Reconciliation
by Face of Poe
Summary: AU YJK-era; Zekk is captured by the Shadow Academy while Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie are still imprisoned. Brakiss takes full advantage of this in an effort to break the twins for good- and to push Zekk over the edge of darkness. M for violence inv. a minor
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hey! New story… always fun, and branching out a little this time to the YJK era instead of NJO and beyond…

So- this is a very AU story… set during the Shadow Academy series of YJK books (i.e. up through Jedi Under Siege), the basic premise is that Zekk was captured by the Shadow Academy while Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie were still captives. This, of course, leads to some bad situations- namely for Jaina.

**Warning**- this story is decidedly rated **M** or **R**- this deals with relatively non-graphic violence against a 14-year-old- including the topic (intention, inference, description) of **rape**. If this bothers you (well, it should), just don't read the story.

**Disclaimer**- all characters and whatnot belong to the lovely authors of the YJK and to Lucasfilms and co… I'm just using them for my own sadistic means. Muahahah. Now- on with the story!

**Reconciliation**

**Part I**

A cold, tingling anxiety began to worm its way across her spine, making her body tense, her gut clench, her lungs freeze in her chest… through their ever-strong link, she could sense Jacen urging her not to give into fear, that they would get out of this as they had every other tough spot in which they had found themselves in their action-packed fourteen years.

Something was different this time though.

In the weeks they had been imprisoned by the Shadow Academy- was it four weeks or five? Six?- they had helped one another, bolstered each other's strengths through the Force as they were taken away by Brakiss or Tamith Kai, sometimes together, sometimes individually; sometimes, one would be taken away, leaving the other alone and helpless in the cell to feel their sibling's tension from afar as their sadistic captors attempted to break them, to get them to unleash their anger…

But they had remained strong, vigilant, relying on the links they shared with each other for strength, with the links with their mother and uncle for reassurance and the knowledge that they were being sought, they had not been abandoned, no matter how Brakiss tried to convince them. Even when they were separated for days at a time, forced to spend the nights alone in cold, dank cells, through their twin-bond they shared a warmth and comfort that Brakiss could not take away.

Now though… Jaina could not place the source of her discomfort, but she craved Jacen's presence again, knowing that someone- _something?_- was coming for her. Brakiss had dragged Jacen away from their cell some time ago… fifteen minutes, half an hour? Five minutes? Jaina could not keep track of time anymore… and now someone else was coming for her. But it didn't feel like Tamith Kai's coldly calculating, cruel presence. It was something hotter, something bitter, angry…

Something familiar… but twisted, corrupted… wrong.

The presence drew closer, and Jaina retreated further into her own mind, desperately reaching for Jacen's comforting touch. He was distracted, but not alarmed, not in pain, and she wondered what Brakiss had planned for him. Before she could try to convey her curiosity, she froze, sensing the manipulation of the controls at her cell.

With a _whoosh_, the door slid open, and Jaina unconsciously drew her body tighter together in the corner before hesitantly- never betraying fear- raising her eyes to the newcomer. And in an instant, her heart froze and her stomach dropped and churned, and everything she knew about the galaxy ceased to be true…

"Zekk," she breathed.

X-X-X-X

Jacen stood impatiently, tense as Brakiss closed the door to the room behind them. In weeks, they had tried everything- making Jacen fight his own sister, nearly killing them with stones and knives, separating them, blasting them with Force-lightning- and no matter what, they surged back, reinforced by each other, helping one another to heal, sharing warm and comforting thoughts of being back on Yavin with Uncle Luke, or on Coruscant with their parents…

"Jacen," Brakiss' smooth voice slipped him out of his reverie, "I imagine you must be wondering why I've brought you here today."

Jacen just stared at the deceptively handsome man.

"I must confess," Brakiss continued, unbothered by Jacen's silence- just as he had been for the past month, "I find myself impressed by your resilience, and that of your sister. I was sure by now that she would have cracked at least- she does seem to be somewhat… _hot headed_." Jacen scowled, proud of his sister for entertaining no more thoughts of allowing the dark side to infringe upon their minds than he had. "But no matter… it becomes clear to me that the two of you will continue to hold out a fool's hope for rescue, that no amount of physical discomfort or pain will persuade you to give in to your anger- when inflicted upon _yourselves_…"

His stomach clenched, and he vaguely felt Jaina searching for him in the back of his mind, her own anxiety beginning to take hold.

"Yes," Brakiss murmured, "I have not been giving you enough incentive, have I? Anything I've tried to do to you, you've simply absorbed it, let your body heal, and done it all over again the next day, the next week… but how would you feel if that pain were inflicted on another…?" His cold eyes bored into Jacen's brown ones. "I wonder… you haven't asked about your friend, the one we found on Coruscant…"

"Leave Zekk alone," Jacen bit.

Brakiss' cruel smile widened. "Oh, I think you misunderstand, young Jacen… Zekk has been a most… _eager_ addition to our little academy."

Jacen frowned. "Zekk isn't a Jedi."

"Ah," the man held up a hand. "That sort of attitude is what has enabled me to shape your young friend so thoroughly. Come, have a look…"

Reluctantly, Jacen followed him to a holoscreen. Brakiss depressed a button and a holovid began playing, and Jacen frowned on consternation, seeing one of Tamith Kai's students raise his lightsaber challengingly. An opponent stepped into view, brandishing his own blade, his long dark hair tied back…

He closed his eyes, not wanting to see. "Pay attention," Brakiss urged, "see how deeply mistaken about your friend you've been…"

Cringing inwardly, Jacen watched the fierce duel between the two, and his gut lurched unpleasantly when Zekk emerged the victor, killing Vilas and being dubbed the 'Darkest Knight' of the academy. In total honestly, Jacen wasn't sure if he would have preferred Zekk to lose the duel to the death, and avoid the fate that had now been laid upon his shoulders.

"A pity," Brakiss murmured in mock-sadness, "that Zekk's own friends chose to ignore his abilities, allowed him to remain an urchin in the undercity of Coruscant. Zekk hasn't taken too kindly to the lie, I assure you. He feels that some… vengeance… may be in order…"

Scowling, Jacen thought about the impending attack that Brakiss and Tamith Kai were undoubtedly planning against the Praxeum on Yavin IV. But then, a wave of something flooded his senses from Jaina, a heart-wrenching recognition and, for the first time since they had woken up captive… the beginnings of a cold seed of fear… he exhaled loudly and bit his lip before whirling on Brakiss. "Zekk would never hurt Jaina, I don't care how far down the path to the dark side you've dragged him."

"Are you so sure of that, my young apprentice? Would you be willing to stake your life on it? What about your sister's?"

And he understood and cold sadness welled up inside him. Brakiss wasn't talking about inflicting pain on Zekk… he was going to have Zekk hurt Jaina…

In the hopes that Jacen's anger would finally boil over.

X-X-X-X

His eyes, five shades darker than the last she had seen him, burned into hers, and she couldn't look away. With a fast slap to the door release, he closed the door behind him, but did not move from the space in front of it, sizing up her huddled body as she fought back against the cold wave of dread that his dark and uncannily blank eyes elicited in her.

"Zekk…" she finally managed. "They told us they captured you… I'd hoped it was a lie…"

He laughed, a cold sound that froze her in place. "You hoped?" he sneered. "You hoped to keep me where I was, a dirty little trash-collector, powerless to challenge you and your brother, your little Jedi friends. You never wanted to see me achieve anything and now… now _I_ am the one in power, Jaina."

His cruel, cold assertion startled her from her frozen position. Scrambling against the cold floor, she made to stand. "Zekk," she pleaded, "that's not true, we never wanted to see you suffer…"

"Silence!" he demanded, and thrust a hand forward. Jaina fell backwards against the wall before she even registered what was happening…

_Zekk could tap into the Force. Zekk had Jedi potential. And they had never known_.

X-X-X-X

Jacen reached desperately into his sister's mind, giving her strength, urging her to stand up against Zekk, not to let herself be overcome by fear and doubt, tried to impress upon her how dangerous Brakiss had made Zekk in the mere weeks of his capture…

A panicked answering touch alerted him to the fact that Zekk was already there with her, and he could sense her sadness and guilt, and he knew that she had realized that they had overlooked his ability to become a Jedi for so long, and now it was too late, someone else was using that to turn him against them.

"Can you sense her fear, young Jedi?" Brakiss murmured lowly next to him. "I can; she doesn't seem to operate under your own fallacy that your supposed friend won't harm her." He leaned down closer, lips only centimeters from Jacen's ear. "There's no one to help her, Jacen; I even doubt that _I_ could stop him, he seemed quite resolved when we parted ways this morning…"

A flash of helpless anger made his vision tunnel. He could feel Jaina distractedly pushing him to rid himself of it, not to play into Brakiss' ploy, that it wasn't _really_ Zekk's fault, he'd been corrupted and manipulated, and if Jacen allowed himself to be goaded into anger, than he would just become another one of Brakiss' pawns…

Abruptly the rush of encouragement ceased, and Jacen stiffened at new sensations of alarm flooding his sister's senses. There was a flash of pain and Jacen put a hand to his head, doing his best to send his own reinforcing vibes to Jaina. "Jaina," he moaned softly as her panic flared and a rush of fear, pain, despair, and anxiety assaulted his senses.

He could sense Brakiss' dark delight and he fought against it, but it was too much, his own uselessness was smothering him, making him angry, made him want to lash out, to get Brakiss out of his way so he could go to her, so he could stop Zekk, hurt him, kill him if he had to…

And then, with a whispered apology, it was gone.

So was Jaina.

"Jaina," he whispered, sinking to the floor in anguish.

X-X-X-X

His hand was grasping her hair, forcing her head back, making her stare into those cold eyes that had once been so vibrant, carefree, friendly… now, they were dead, as though a part of Zekk had simply ceased to exist, as though Brakiss had ripped his very soul right out of his body and left just a dark shell that resembled her friend in appearance only. His warmth, his feistiness, his affection for the Solo twins- Jaina first and foremost- they were simply gone, evaporated into the depths of the Shadow Academy.

"Zekk," she said softly, "this isn't you. You're my friend, you're kind and gentle…" his grip tightened and she whimpered quietly as he yanked strands of hair from her head. She continued gamely on. "Don't you see that Brakiss is using you?"

"Shut up," he hissed. "He's given me more than any of you ever did."

"At what price, Zekk?" she murmured, willing the fear not to show in her face. "He's taking advantage of you, of who you are, of our friendship… the anger you feel isn't really yours, Zekk, surely you can see that…?"

He slapped her hard across the face, and she grimaced, but barely noticed the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. In the back of her mind, she could sense Jacen's worry, but didn't distract herself trying to reassure him. Zekk's expression had darkened even further, and the flutter of fear in her stomach was increasing.

"You could come to Yavin with us, Zekk," she said quietly. "I'm sorry that we never realized you were Force-sensitive, but you can still come train to be a Jedi…"

He shoved her hard onto the cold floor, and her palms stung with the impact, her wrist throbbed as she jammed it against the durocrete. Biting her lip to stop the cry of surprise and pain, Jaina barely had time to register her own despair at Zekk's behavior before he was dragging her back off the ground and shoving her against the wall, a hand pressing firmly against her throat.

She struggled for breath, willed herself not to use the Force against her friend, and felt Jacen's flaring anger; she understood in a heartbeat, knew that Brakiss had timed it so he could goad Jacen as he felt his twin's pain, could urge him to give into his anger, possibly even sacrificing Jaina to ensure that one sibling turned…

There was only one thing to do, she thought mournfully as Zekk hurled her roughly to the hard cot that served as one of their beds. Acting on pure instinct, she pushed past her own terror and sought the strong connection in her mind, that special bond that kept her linked so constantly with her twin… and with a fluttering apology that she hoped reached him, as she watched Zekk stalk towards her, she severed that link, and felt an instant coldness, an emptiness that threatened to consume her, that terrified her more than Zekk ever could…

Setting her face in firm resolve, forcing that emptiness aside, she reached out once with the Force- not for Zekk, as he seemed to expect by the sudden tensing of his shoulders, but for the security holocam in the ceiling. With a fast, unskilled pull, she yanked the connecting cables, unseen and hidden in the wall, from the unit and a shower of sparks erupted around it. Zekk growled deep in his throat as he grabbed her arm, pulling her roughly into a sitting position and making muscles in her shoulder scream in protest.

All that mattered, though, was that Jacen was protected; she couldn't let him surrender to his anger on her behalf.

X-X-X-X

Brakiss scowled as he switched off the holofeed, though a part of him was impressed with the girl's resourcefulness, her insight into his motives in the midst of her own terror and impending pain. He glanced back and saw her twin kneeling numbly on the floor.

"What did you do?" Jacen croaked.

Brakiss sneered. "I did nothing; your sister, it seems, is much more level-headed than you, she's cutting you off."

"She…" Jacen searched deep inside himself and realized that he could still sense Jaina in a detached sort of way, but her presence and feelings were not nearly so overbearing as those they shared through their special bond. He wondered if she had even meant to do it, but at least it gave him a chance to clear his head. "Outsmarted by a fourteen-year-old?" Jacen asked coolly. "I suppose your little experiment fails then, you can have Zekk stop whatever he's doing to scare her…"

The dark Jedi glanced amusedly down at his young captive. "Oh, I don't control my darkest knight. He will do what he wants, take what he wants from her, and then you will be returned to what's left."

He paled and fought the rising anger. "What's left… what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jacen demanded.

"Language, my young apprentice… whatever would the chief-of-state think, hearing her son speak in such a way to his master?"

"You're no master of mine," Jacen snarled. "And whatever kind of monster you've made Zekk into, he'd never kill her, so don't waste your breath."

Brakiss' voice was mockingly mild. "Did you not just tell me that he'd never hurt her at all?" Jacen scowled and looked at the floor, trying to hide his anguish and feeling strangely empty inside. "But no need to fear, he has explicit instructions to leave the girl alive. Besides, I do believe that his intentions lie in a more… _pleasurable_ direction; for him, anyway." He smirked as Jacen's eyes widened in horror as he took in Brakiss' meaning.

"You… you sick piece of huttfilth…" mouth working soundlessly, trying to formulate words around his outrage, Jacen strode to the door which Brakiss had left purposefully unlocked, he thought. He made it five steps before a cold voice rang out.

"We are not yet finished here, Jacen Solo."

He continued walking. "Like hell we aren't."

Brakiss just shook his head sadly and waited until Jacen depressed the button to release the door. It swung upwards… and Jacen dove left as a burst of Force-lightning erupted where he had just been standing, disappearing into the corridor beyond. The boy rolled and came to his feet several meters from the door, staring daggers at Brakiss, crouched, ready for a fight.

"You have your lightsaber," Brakiss pointed out mildly, gesturing to the blade Jacen had been given as encouragement to test his skills, now sitting untouched on a nearby table. "If you wish to leave… you must first defeat me."

X-X-X-X

She cringed as rough hands tore at her jumpsuit, and she desperately tried to misconstrue Zekk's intentions, tried to deny the lustful gaze in those ever-absent eyes. This was her friend, someone she had long cared for even when she didn't understand it, someone whose emerald eyes had made her heart flutter whenever she saw him in the last two years… someone who, until mere minutes ago, she had thought would always care for her in a similar way, might even be more than a friend one day when she was old enough to want such things…

Someone who was now gripping her chin roughly in one hand while other applied pressure to her injured wrist, as his cold, empty eyes dared her to fight back.

"Please, Zekk," she said softly. She didn't beg; she wouldn't. But she would ask nicely, just once, would ask him to come back to himself before he did something he would never be able to live with, if he ever escaped Brakiss' evil influence. "This isn't you. Don't do this; not like this. You don't want to hurt me, you've never hurt me. We're friends."

His response to her entreaty was to slam her head back against the durocrete wall. Blinking stars from her eyes, groaning against the pain in her head and her injured wrist, she finally felt the beginnings of hot tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and she knew it was over. With a sort of detachment, she watched as he tore her tattered jumpsuit from her body, leaving her in an undershirt and shorts that enabled the chill of the room- the chill of Zekk's eyes- to freeze her very core.

Her failure to struggle, her unwillingness to fight against him only served to further enrage him, and he smacked her across the face once more. She turned her head with the blow but remained otherwise unmoved until she doubled over involuntarily with a punch to the stomach, and he pushed her from the cot.

Crying out softly as her injured wrist caught much of her weight, she attempted to draw the Force in around her, to lessen the pain, the horror at what was happening as he kicked her lightly-clothed form, as she hoped beyond reasonable hope that he would tire of her unresponsiveness, would move on to a more interesting toy in her stead… part of her wanted to reestablish her link with Jacen, but she couldn't risk his own fall like that, couldn't enable the descent into darkness that had already claimed Zekk, possibly irrevocably.

As he hoisted her limp body- using the Force- back onto the cot and used a rough hand to drag her onto her back, something inside of her teetered, threatened to snap… and with her last strength of spirit, she reached out one last time in the Force, brushing Jacen fondly, urging him to be strong and then… surprising even herself… she reached out to Zekk, briefly but softly, letting the simplest of sentiments to drift into his mind…

_I forgive you_.

His hands stilled as they roughly grabbed at her undershirt, and furious green eyes met distant, fading brown ones. With a snarl, he abandoned his efforts and stood back, and Jaina could sense rather than see the energy crackling at his fingertips, and moments later her body was assaulted with the tragically familiar pain of electricity lighting up every nerve…

And just as abruptly, the pain stopped as something inside of Jaina snapped and, with a last whimper, she retreated deep inside her own mind, unable to comprehend her own sorrow, her pain, her fear, her despair as Zekk continued to assault her body with lightning, snarling angrily at her, enraged at his inability to draw a reaction save the reflexive twitching as nerve endings erupted in spasms.

X-X-X-X

"Enough!" Brakiss barked as a strong blow knocked Jacen's lightsaber from his grasp. With an effortless flick of his wrist, the blade came spinning towards him, and he deactivated it as it landed in his palm. "Clearly, you've learned nothing since you've been here. No matter; it is time we returned you to your sister."

Jacen's face paled and he sucked in a breath before turning back to the door. This time, Brakiss did not stop him, merely following five meters behind as Jacen, on pure instinct, navigated his way through the catacombs of the Shadow Academy vessel back towards the cell where he had been forced to leave Jaina behind… how long ago was it now? An hour? Two? Thirty minutes?

His pace didn't slow as he neared the door in question, and he reached out desperately for his sister, but found only a strange, detached emptiness in place of the soft glow she usually emitted to him, and he slapped the release on the door… and found himself hurled aside by a Force-shove, landing in a heap against the wall, vaguely cognizant of the fact that it was _Zekk_, a dark shadow of the boy he had once known, striding from the room without shooting a second glance in his direction.

Scrambling to his feet, he ignored the taller boy and dashed into the room, heart sinking at the sight before him.

Jaina was unconscious on the small cot on the far side of the room- the one where he usually slept, when they were permitted to stay together. A lingering smell of burnt flesh, all-too-familiar after their encounters with Brakiss and Tamith Kai, permeated the room, and Jaina was covered in bruises and blood, red patches showing through her white undershirt near her ribs and stomach, a dribble spilling from the corner from her mouth, another dripping from one nostril…

"Jaina," he whispered, leaning over her, stricken, probing instinctively with the Force, trying to ascertain the worst of her injuries, to find the area where her body needed the most help healing. A small part of him swelled in anger, in hatred, but he shoved it down, knowing that he needed to help Jaina now, first and foremost, and that his anger would get him nowhere. Ears ringing in fear for her, he was only vaguely aware of the conversation taking place outside the door, but filed it away in his memory.

"I thought your interest in the girl lay in a… different… direction." Brakiss' tone was mild and curious.

Zekk shrugged. "Her lack of fight made me lose interest."

"I see…" Brakiss trailed away and frowned, approaching the bed. "I hope you haven't killed her, she could still be of much use to us…" he leaned forward and tilted Jaina's head towards him, lifting an eyelid to gaze into her blank eyes.

"Don't touch her!" Jacen barked ineffectually, attempting to block Brakiss' access to Jaina; he was merely shoved aside with a flick of Zekk's hand.

"Her injuries are not life-threatening," the dark teenager continued as though Jacen had not spoken. Jacen looked up into his green eyes and saw that they were nearly as blank as Jaina's, though they never left her prone form as he spoke. "Whatever trance she's in, she retreated into it of her own volition."

Jacen dragged himself back up off the floor and took Jaina's hand in his; it was limp. For several minutes, long after Brakiss and Zekk departed, he sat there, holding her hand, stroking her hair, damp with sweat, from her face.

Using his own rudimentary diagnostic and healing abilities, he forced himself to clear his mind and meditate, sending healing vibes towards his sister's most dire wounds. After a minute, he felt, distant but strong, his uncle lending his support to the effort, his thoughts laced with concern and Jacen realized that he had felt, to some degree, Jaina's pain and withdrawal from reality.

He did his best to reassure Luke that Jaina would live, but laced the thought with an urging, telling his uncle that their time was surely running out, that they had to help them soon, or it would be too late.

**End Part I**

…**TBC** as soon as I have a good internet connection for a prolonged period of time… that may be tomorrow, or it may not be until Sunday.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: I'm back! You should be seeing more consistent updates from here on, so enjoy!

**Part II**

It hurt to even think, but she clawed her way through the endless tunnels of murky darkness, forced her way back into a vague but definite consciousness out of the sleep that threatened to overtake her.

Warm arms encircled her waist and she tensed before registering the bright presence of her twin. Allowing herself to relax in his embrace, she blinked once, twice, three times, before her eyes began to focus, though there was nothing to see from this position save the blank and monotonous durocrete wall.

"Jaina?"

She closed her eyes again and sucked in a deep breath; it felt like the first she'd had in weeks. "Yeah?" she asked, voice cracking and strained. "How… how long…?"

"Sh," he urged. "You're still healing. You've been unconscious for hours, I'm not sure how many… but two meals have been delivered, so…" he trailed away and loosened his grip, allowing her to turn around on the cot as he sat up to give her space. Groaning softly and shivering against the cold of the cell, Jaina drew the blanket tighter around her underdressed form and noticed that Jacen had also added the blanket from the other cot. "You were cold," he sensed her thoughts. Then, almost an afterthought, he added softly, almost in a whisper, "You scared me."

Her breath shuddered and pain lingered across her body. "I didn't want you to… to feel everything…" Another deep breath cleared her head a little further. "Brakiss would have played your fear and anger so fast…"

"That was his plan," Jacen admitted. "You outsmarted him."

She attempted a smile, but it changed to a grimace as her cut lip erupted in new pain. "That's what big sisters are for…"

Something tore painfully at Jacen's heart. "I should have been here," he blinked frustrated tears away. "This should never have happened…"

Closing her eyes, she breathed heavily, labouredly for a few moments, willing the Force to take away some of her residual pain. "Wouldn't have mattered," she muttered ruefully. "Zekk is… powerful." A shudder ran down her body and she closed her eyes against the memory of his deadened, dark eyes. Jacen touched her shoulder hesitantly. "I'm alright," she said quietly, more to herself than to him.

"Did… did you go into the trance intentionally?"

She frowned, pulling up the hazy memories and sensations of her terrifying encounter the day prior. "I don't think so," she finally admitted. "It was more of an unconscious reflex against my own horror," her voice broke. "He's so… _dark_," she whispered, blinking away tears. "Before yesterday, I never would have dreamed that Zekk could think an evil thought, let alone hurt someone intentionally…"

"We have to get out of here," Jacen muttered. "He's as much a pawn of Brakiss as we are, and we're only alive as long as Brakiss still thinks there's a chance we'll turn. After yesterday…" he glanced sadly down at his wounded sister. "I don't know how much longer he'll delude himself."

Jaina looked away briefly before planting a brave smile on her face. "We'll think of something. We always do."

But Jacen was skeptical. "You're in no condition to go anywhere any time soon," he pointed out. "And we don't even know where they're keeping Lowie…"

"Jacen," she sighed and laid her head heavily back against the uncomfortable cot, "let's worry when the time comes. I think I need to go into a better healing trance for now," she winced as she sat up again, regarding the blood stains on her shirt, and remembering Zekk's liberal use of a knife while cutting her jumpsuit apart… "I don't suppose anyone's left me a change of clothing…?"

"Actually, yes," he strode to the door and picked up a stack of cloth next to an untouched tray. Unfurling it, she cocked a brow at the dramatic black, hooded robe, but sighed in resignation and accepted it, slipping it over her dirtied undershirt and standing slowly to draw it down her body while Jacen turned away respectfully. "Stylish," he muttered wryly when he turned back around.

"Yeah," she grimaced, separating the two blankets and tossing one back across the room. "Wake me if anything exciting happens." Without another word, she settled back down on the cot and curled up in a protective ball.

X-X-X-X

Jaina spent most of the next full day in a healing trance, emerging only once to eat and clean up in the small refresher off of their cell. The day after that, they came for them again.

She supposed, as she huddled against her brother's tense form, that she should have been relieved that Brakiss accorded her even _that_ much time to recover; then again, he did still seem interested in keeping them in relatively good condition and he certainly didn't want them dead- yet. So perhaps he viewed it in his best interests to let her heal before giving Zekk another go at her.

Or, perhaps he had something else up his sleeve.

As soon as Brakiss entered the room, Zekk on his heels, Jaina's eyes were drawn to what he held in his hands; they looked like binders but the two cuffs weren't connected. Rather than fasten them both on one of their wrists, as Jaina half-expected, he approached her and seized her arm roughly, using the Force to easily counteract Jacen's attempts at shielding her. With a snap, she found one of the metal bands secured around her left wrist, and then she was shoved roughly out of the way while Brakiss fastened the other to Jacen's arm.

A small jolt made her start, and she frowned down at the contraption. Reaching out in the Force, trying to get a sense of what it was…

Another jolt threw her mind off balance.

Brakiss chuckled lowly. "You like them? New inventions of ours, actually. Can you guess what they do?"

Jacen scowled and looked at Jaina, trying to connect to her mind… but failed miserably. Neither answered Brakiss while their stomachs sank in realization.

"Yes, those small shocks you feel block your ability to concentrate long enough to utilize your powers in the Force- though whatever good they did you before, I haven't yet understood," he sneered. "More importantly though, your own abilities to communicate, to boost each other, assist one another's strengths, their _recovery_…" he glanced at Jaina who had unconsciously backed as far away from Zekk as possible. "Those will be severely hindered as long as you wear these cuffs. You need not worry though," he smiled grimly as he stepped away from Jacen and back towards Jaina, "they aren't strong enough to cause any damage, you'll barely notice it after the first hour or two…"

He seized her upper arm in a bruising grip, and Jacen started towards the pair with a growl of fury starting in his throat; he made it three steps before a shove from Zekk sent him stumbling backwards. He whirled on the dark teen even as Brakiss began to drag Jaina from the room. "The Zekk I knew would never have allowed himself to be controlled so easily," Jacen bit. "He would never have let someone else tell him who is friends are."

Zekk reached out a hand; Jacen's throat constricted uncomfortably, but not completely, allowing him to still gasp for small breaths. Jaina whimpered from the doorway, resisting Brakiss as best as she could given her inability to tap into her powers and his superior physical strength. "I've learned who my real friends are," Zekk hissed. "Don't flatter yourself to assume that I can't see through your game."

"Game?" Jacen choked. "Was it a game when Jaina begged mom and dad not to make us go back to the academy yet, so she wouldn't have to leave you behind? Was it a game when, after _every_ visit to Coruscant, she cried on the way back to Yavin, wanting nothing more than to stay with you?"

Zekk snorted. "Jaina Solo doesn't cry; not for anyone."

Jacen's eyes hardened as he struggled for breath. "What about two days ago, Zekk?" he spat. "Did she cry for you then?"

Something in Zekk's emerald eyes flickered and the grip on Jacen's throat loosened; then, the eyes darkened in outrage and a blast of lightning sent Jacen careening to the wall, slamming his head hard and sliding down, dazed. His body ached ten times worse than it usually did after such an attack, being unable to suppress his pain.

"Stop it!" Jaina shrieked; apparently, Brakiss had abandoned the attempt at removing her from the room to watch Jacen and Zekk's altercation. She could feel Jacen's pain through the Force but was just as helpless as he to do anything about it. "Just stop, leave him alone! It's me you want anyway; isn't it?"

"Jaina…" Jacen groaned, before Zekk launched another brief barrage of lightning that made Jaina heave a dry sob.

Brakiss gripped her face firmly and stared into her eyes. She forced herself not to look away from the dark depths, the hopeless void in his eyes. "Just what is it you offer, Jedi?" he asked softly. "What is your brother's life worth?"

She steeled herself and cast an anxious glace at her writhing brother. "If you will leave him alone…" she took a shuddering breath. "Zekk can take me in his place."

Her former friend whirled, eyes blazing, but Brakiss merely looked amused. "My darkest knight hardly needs your permission to do as he wishes."

"Leave Jacen alone," she repeated, "and remove his cuff; and I won't fight. Zekk can finish what he started with me, he doesn't need to use Jacen to get to me."

A quick look was exchanged between Brakiss and his pupil. She closed her eyes, expecting one of them to lash out at her, but Brakiss' smooth voice cut into her like a knife instead. "Very well," he declared, and Jaina exhaled sharply, wondering what fate she had just sealed for herself. She was aware of Jacen trying to reach out to her but unable, and… oddly… a flicker of surprise, perhaps… or was it annoyance?... from Zekk.

"Master," the young man murmured, "if you agree to release his cuff, he can use his own strength to bolster hers, even if she is unable to tap her own powers…"

"Of course," Brakiss agreed. "But that only seems fair, doesn't it? We concentrate all of our energy on one- _willing _- twin, and in turn, the other is left the burden of sensing everything she goes through, and attempting to counteract it without her own ability to help him. Might I remind you, Knight Zekk, that she will be unable to pull the stunt of two days ago and sever her connection with the boy?" He smiled cruelly. "No, our ends will be just as well served," turning to Jaina, his look darkened as he glanced her over. "But I will point out to you, young Solo, that your promise not to fight is unlooked for- in fact, I think Zekk would prefer if you do."

Jacen dragged himself from the floor, using the cot to support his weight as he pulled himself to his feet. "You… you're monsters, both of you…" He sucked in a shuddering breath. "Jaina, don't do this… it isn't worth it…"

"Silence," Brakiss commanded, striding forward. "Your sister's fate is sealed; as per our arrangement, I release your bracelet," with a click, it came apart and fell into Brakiss' hand, "and for the duration of your sister's… treatment… at Zekk's hands, you shall remain here, alone and unharmed."

"A… alone?" Jacen stammered.

The cruel smirk widened. "I think a little distance would be good for the two of you again. Knight Zekk," he glanced back at the stoic young man, "I release the girl into your custody; use her well."

Jaina started as Zekk wrenched her arm and dragged her back through the doorway. "Wait," she muttered uselessly, throwing a desperate glance at her horrified brother. "Jacen…"

"Shut up!" Zekk hissed in her ear. "This was your idea, deal with it."

Stumbling along, half-dragged down the corridor by the much-taller dark Jedi, Jaina heard Jacen call her name just once and then felt, rather than heard, as he fell and sobbed and allowed his grief and frustration to take control once he was left alone- as per their agreement.

X-X-X-X

He beat her that night, forgoing the use of the Force in favor of brute strength- or perhaps as a mockery of her lack of defense, though she doubted she'd have attempted to fight him anyway, much as she had chosen not to the first time. With every blow though, she could feel Jacen's heartache as he attempted to soothe her pain.

She wouldn't cry though.

Finally, after what felt like hours but she suspected was little more than ten or fifteen minutes, Zekk's dark eyes finally took back some life and he stepped away from her curled body with a look of boredom tinged with… disgust? At her or himself? She couldn't tell, especially with her complete inability to probe his thoughts and feelings, relying on his expression solely.

He gestured to a door as he turned away. "Clean yourself up," he snapped listlessly.

Dragging herself painfully to her feet, she took a deep breath, willing her body to fight against the impulses still being sent at intervals through her. No luck. "Thanks," she muttered sarcastically, "but if it's all the same to you, I think I'll wait."

He didn't turn to look at her as he shed his cloak and rummaged through a closet. "If that's how you prefer to sleep then, be my guest."

His meaning took a minute to sink in. "Excuse me?" she spluttered. Finally, he spun to face her, ire evident in his eyes.

"Should have made your little agreement with my master a little clearer, shouldn't you?"

"I… I never said…"

"It doesn't matter," he barked. "You didn't specify otherwise, and played right into Lord Brakiss' hands, you stupid girl. Now _I'm_ stuck with you until he decides that your brother has been tormented enough by your absence, and that means that you stay here, with me, until he says otherwise."

Jaina was hardly able to wrap her mind around her own stupidity. In her moment of anguish, she thought she was saving Jacen, that by taking the torment Zekk meant to inflict onto herself, that he would be spared as much as possible. Instead, she'd put him right back in the situation from two days prior that she'd desperately avoided by breaking their connection, and this time, she didn't have the ability to even do that- and she knew Jacen never would, not when leaving it open meant that he could funnel healing and pain-relieving vibes to her.

Growling deep in her throat, she stepped slowly towards the refresher, hoping that she wouldn't be forced to ask the man who had just beaten her for towels or a fresh robe or jumpsuit, that they'd be waiting for her in there…

"Leave the door open." She turned slowly, every movement causing flashes of pain from pulled muscles and bruised skin, eyeing him incredulously. "Don't flatter yourself," he snapped. "If you mess with that bracelet, it'll sound an alarm and I want to be able to hear if you're trying to tamper with it."

Scowling, she continued onwards, wondering if it was worth disobeying… and then decided that it was a fight that could wait for another day. For now, she was tired, covered in bruises and blood, nerves frazzled from the electric cuff.

When she emerged from the sanisteam twenty minutes later, robe securely tightened, arms crossed over her body in an unconscious protectiveness, she stepped slowly back into the main room. Zekk was sitting upright on the bed in the far corner, dressed only in a pair of sleeping pants. His gaze flickered just a moment too long over her damp, robe-clad form, and she went red in anger and embarrassment before meeting his eyes and cocking a brow. Sneering lightly, he used the Force to send a stack of clothing her way and she took it forcefully, retreating into the far end of the refresher to change into the simple- and surprisingly comfortable- pants and shirt.

"Don't think for a minute," she warned as she reemerged, "that I'm sleeping in a bed with you."

He smirked and she found herself inundated with strong reminders that they _had_ slept in a bed together, her bed back on Coruscant when they were still just children and she and Jacen had snuck him into the apartment late at night. Sometimes, the three of them would fall asleep together while huddling beneath the blankets, whispering to avoid waking their parents and Anakin. "Sleep where you will," he shrugged disinterestedly before tossing a light blanket her way. With a grimace, she settled herself in the further possible corner from him on the cold floor.

X-X-X-X

"Stop it," she muttered, feeling warm hands brush against her face. "Jacen…"

Remembering, her eyes shot open, and an instant later, Zekk was flying across the room in a dark blur. She attempted to sit up, but found herself pressed against the bed- _the bed?_- by the other's own insistent push as he pulled himself to his feet, scowling. In his hand was the impulse-emitting cuff that had encircled her wrist since the day prior. "What were you doing?" she demanded, gaining slight ground against his Force hold and sitting up slowly and painfully.

Silently, he crossed back to her and secured the cuff once more. "Pulling you out of a healing trance," he snarled.

She frowned. "I never…" a flicker in his eyes caught her attention, but his face was an unreadable mask. "Fine; sorry," she muttered, pulling herself gingerly to her feet and returning to the corner where she'd nested down the night prior, confused.

"What are you doing?" he barked, sounding exasperated.

"Going back to sleep," she muttered. "I might avoid doing that again if you don't enjoy being tossed across the room."

He didn't respond as she wrapped the blanket around her aching body and curled up in the corner once more, wondering what had happened. Had Jacen pushed her unconscious self into a trance? And if so, why hadn't Zekk just left her on the floor to yank her out of it?

X-X-X-X

After nearly two days with no sign of his sister, Jacen agreed- for the first time in his captivity- to willingly attend one of Brakiss' 'lessons,' in the hopes that Jaina would be forced along as well. She wasn't, and he gritted his teeth for the duration of the twisted nonsense spouted by the dark Jedi. Lowie was present, flanked by two of Tamith Kai's favorite students, and Jacen saw a cuff secured around his shaggy forearm as well. When he caught sight of Jacen though, the young wookiee gave a short, relieved greeting that quickly turned questioning, and Jacen sensed his friend's confusion, wondering where Jaina was. With a tight grimace, he shook his head, but could offer no better explanation from across the room.

After two more nights of sensing little change in Jaina- she was still in pain from the first night of her absence- Jacen was desperate. And so, as two of Brakiss' students led him back to his cell following the 'morning lesson,' Jacen found himself calling out to Zekk as he saw the stormy teen slipping into another corridor. With a spiteful glare, Zekk turned and crossed his arms, beckoning the trio forward.

"I'll take him from here," he said offhandedly to the other two. They silently and smoothly continued on their way. "Well, Solo? Come to beg for your sister back?"

"Where is she?" Jacen demanded quickly.

Zekk chuckled lowly. "I hardly see the relevance to you. Never fear though, she is close by and secure."

"I want to see her."

"That wasn't the deal."

"It was her deal, not mine," Jacen snapped, allowing herself to be pulled quickly down towards his cell.

The older teen shot him a sideways glance. "And it was made with Lord Brakiss; take it up with him, then."

Jacen pursed his lips and scowled. "You're a fool, Zekk…" Zekk pressed the release pad and the door to the cell slid open. "Can't you see that it's _you_ that Brakiss is playing here? Not me, not Jaina- you."

"Ah," Zekk shoved him forward, sending him stumbling. "But it is _you_ who is begging to see your idiot sister."

For a moment, he just stared, uncomprehendingly. Then, as Zekk turned to leave, he called out after him. "What do you think is going to happen, Zekk? Where do you think this ends?" Zekk stilled but did not turn. "Why do you think he agreed to hand Jaina over to you? Because she's the one person you never would have hurt before, the one person you would have done anything for… the one person who you'll never be able to forgive yourself for hurting now..."

Zekk whirled on him, and Jacen backed up involuntarily. "You presume far too much, Solo," he hissed, backing Jacen into a wall. "Do not blame me for your sister's poor decisions."

"What happens when her use is at an end?" Jacen shouted. "He'll push and push, you'll hurt her more and more… until either you're broken or she is." Those emerald eyes darkened into burning pits of fury. "And if she breaks first, Brakiss will tell you to kill her- because if you kill Jaina, you will _never_ be redeemed, your own soul will be so far shattered and you'll become exactly what Brakiss wants from you- a deadly machine with no remorse… just an endless supply of regret and bitterness at the utter betrayal of your true self."

A hand flew up, and Jacen braced himself for the blow… and then Zekk seemed to remember himself, or perhaps Brakiss was reminding him from afar that he had agreed not to harm him- for now. "Have a care, Solo," he whispered. "You're time will come soon enough- once I'm through with your sister, who will remain with me and alive until I desire otherwise."

With a sudden strength as Zekk was leaving the room, Jacen reached out and yanked him back, gripping the arm of the surprised dark Jedi-in-training. "Just remember two things," Jacen hissed, eyes flashing. "She's fourteen years old- barely more than a child; and until a week ago, you meant the world to her."

"You and your twin, Jacen Solo, are most certainly not children."


	3. Chapter 3

**Part III**

Brakiss spoke loudly over the whirring of several practice remotes, as Zekk spun and danced, avoiding and deflecting the laser bolts. "I think you're letting the girl grow too complacent," he commented, watching his darkest knight with approving eyes.

"I thought…" Zekk panted, "that the idea… was to rile up her brother…"

"Hm," Brakiss pondered, "true. And he certainly showed yesterday that the arrangement is getting to him, I don't believe he has displayed that much emotion throughout the entire duration of his stay here with us. Nevertheless," his eyes were thoughtful, "we don't want to make it too easy on her."

A quick parry and two-step sent three more bolts zinging away. "They are both resilient to physical pain," Zekk muttered, closing his eyes as he stepped across the path of another remote and swung the lightsaber at mid-chest height. "With his suppression cuff removed, I see little use in wasting my energy beating her; she merely shuts down while he focuses on alleviating her pain." He paused as he closed down his lightsaber, the remotes swinging away to the far side of the room to shut down. "She seems much more susceptible to overreaction at _his_ suffering; perhaps our arrangement was… backwards?" Green eyes darted once towards his master, but Brakiss was thinking, paying little outward attention to his apprentice.

"Perhaps then," the older man finally said, "you are not being resourceful enough in your… treatment of the girl. If she doesn't respond to pain… see how she responds to discomfort."

"Discomfort?" Zekk queried slowly.

"She is growing complacent," Brakiss repeated. "Change her routine; put her on edge, make her uncomfortable. Her brother will obsess over it without knowing a cause, and her own defenses will suffer. After all, her ability to draw into her own mind is only as strong as her will to do so… she does not have the luxury of using the Force to pull herself into a trance."

Zekk turned his lightsaber over in his hand unconsciously, thinking. "Has Sol… Jacen demanded of you to see her?"

Brakiss chuckled. "Yes, I paid him a visit last night. I'm considering his request, it could prove… useful."

X-X-X-X

"What the hell is this?"

Zekk glanced up from a datapad, a light sneer already playing across his features, and Jaina realized that he had long expected the question. "That would be a nightgown."

She just stared for close to a minute, mouth working silently as she struggled for words. "A nightgown," she deadpanned. "No; a nightgown is a respectable piece of clothing which one's own family could see them in. _This_," she held up the bunched up material, "is a too-short, too-silky, too-sleeveless, too… _sluttish_… scrap of cloth that I will most certainly _not_ be wearing."

"Sure you will."

"Thanks, but no," she growled. "I'll just take the same thing I've been wearing, you know, the last _four nights_?"

His eyes darkened. "Sorry; laundry day."

"Laundry… why you…" she sighed heavily and then let off a frustrated scream before retreating back to the refresher, slapping the door control behind her. He just watched the door in dark amusement until she reemerged two minutes later, bathrobe still cinched tightly around her waist. Sensing his frown, she smiled sarcastically. "Rules never said that I couldn't wear it _under_ the robe."

Zekk stared at her and realized that Brakiss had been right; she _was_ too sure of herself, maybe he had been mistaken about the uselessness of inflicting pain on her. No matter… he had all the time he needed to fix that. With a low rumble in his throat, he swiftly stood from the desk and glided over to her. She backed up against the nearest wall, in the corner where she had been preparing to settle down to sleep. His hand came around her neck, applying just enough pressure to be threatening, but not enough to restrict her air.

"I would appreciate," he murmured against her ear, one hand slowly reaching for her waist, "if you would not push me any further." Her breathing was stilted and ragged as his hand slid down her throat, almost caressing her while his other hand loosened the sash at her waist. "I'm _really_ not in the mood…" he gripped one of her wrists firmly while he slowly pulled the edges of the robe apart. "There," his tone was low and dangerous, and he turned her around to face the wall, bringing both hands to her shoulders and slipping the bathrobe deftly down her arms. "Not so bad now, hm?"

She shuddered as his hands ghosted across the thin material at her waist as he pulled the robe away. Regaining her composure although red and embarrassed, she turned and opened her mouth… and a fast slap shocked her into submission.

"I believe I told you that the door was to always remain open," he snapped, tone abruptly shifted. He gripped the back of her neck tightly and shoved her forward to the middle of the room before driving her to her knees and landing a sharp kick against the ribs of her left side. Reflexively, she cried out before cutting the sound off in abrupt determination that he would derive as little satisfaction from her pain as possible. "I am so tired," he growled, "of putting up with your petty defiance." As an almost afterthought, he cuffed her hard across the head before stalking to the bed.

"Lights off," he snarled, plunging the room into blackness. Jaina remained, paralyzed, kneeling on the floor for a minute before gathering the presence of mind to crawl back to her corner where she curled, shivering, into the thin blanket Zekk had provided.

But she wouldn't cry.

X-X-X-X

Jacen followed Brakiss with impatient obedience, amazed that it only took a day for Brakiss to agree to his request to see Jaina. His gut was twisted in uneasiness and he wasn't entirely sure why… Jaina had seemed distraught the night before, but her distress was not accompanied by an inordinate amount of pain, save one infuriating moment when Jacen suspected she was slapped, perhaps.

Maybe he could convince her that this was stupid, that her entire 'agreement' with Brakiss was pointless… though whether Brakiss would agree to return them to the same cell was another matter entirely. Regardless, Jacen felt he had to try, he couldn't bear sensing her anxiety and not being able to see her, to comfort her, especially now that she couldn't really reach out to him in the Force.

The route through the battle station was complex, and it surprised Jacen mildly that they would keep their prison cells so far apart in the massive ship. Then though, as they approached a door, it slid open and a tall, dark figure stepped through and turned- Zekk.

"Master," he acknowledged Brakiss courteously before eyeing Jacen with something akin to surprise. "You've brought a visitor?"

"He did ask so politely," Brakiss smirked and motioned Jacen ahead. The wide-eyed Jedi trainee shot a last, loathing glare at Zekk before stepping forward, expecting to find himself in a comparable, small cell similar to his own…

And was, instead, highly surprised- until realization sank in and he just stared in horror, knowing now that his sister was held so far away because she wasn't in the detention center at all- they'd been forcing her to stay with Zekk, in his own private quarters.

Suppressing his anger with effort, Jacen rushed forward to where his sister's prone form was curled in a protective ball on the bed across the room. A sizeable bruise stood out against the pale skin of her cheek, and he thought he glimpsed some purplish marks on her neck, though the blanket was drawn almost up to her chin so he couldn't be sure. With a sad sigh, he brushed a piece of hair from her face, and she twisted in the blanket, trying to extract an arm. "Shh," he murmured, pressing against her shoulders- which only made her struggle harder. "Jaina…"

Her eyes shot open. "Jacen?" she croaked, looking around in dazed confusion. "What…?"

"Brakiss actually brought me to see you, if you can believe it," he murmured lowly. "I'm sure he's playing something, but I don't care, I had to see how you were."

She groaned as she sat up, finally having unraveled herself partway from the blanket. "Where's Zekk?" she frowned.

"He, ah…" he was distracted by her state of dress, "he's outside with Brakiss… Jaina, what are you wearing?"

Going abruptly red, she yanked the blanket back up to her neck and huddled forward, hugging her knees. "Don't ask," she muttered. "It was _not_ my first- or any- choice of sleep attire," she gestured meaningfully at the bruise on her face and he winced, restraining himself from returning to the hallway and confronting Zekk right there.

"Jaina," Jacen leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers and taking her hand, "you have to get Brakiss to stop this… it was a very noble thing and all, offering to take my place, but I can't stand it…"

"What?" she snapped listlessly. "You'd rather see _both_ of us back in the cuffs?" she held up her forearm and grimaced.

"I'd rather see my sister not be dolled up like some Hutt's dancer for the sick amusement of Brakiss and Zekk!" he contested hotly, and quickly regretted it when her face fell and she looked away, embarrassed or ashamed- or both. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Hot tears stung at her eyes. "He's only doing it to get at you," she said, "and it's working. He only made me wear this… this _thing_ last night, and I bet it was because he knew Brakiss was bringing you here this morning. He doesn't even make me… make me sleep in the bed with him," she finished softly. "He must have moved me when he sensed you coming."

"He hurts you," his voice broke. "I can feel it, every time."

She sighed. "And? He'd be doing that anyway, and if not him, then Brakiss." She took a deep shuddering breath. "Look, Jacen… I can't stand it anymore than you, but knowing that you're not being hurt… it makes it tolerable. As long as one of us is free of these damned bracelets, that one can help the other, and try to maintain a connection with Uncle Luke, we _know_ he's looking for us. If we go back to how they were _going_ to do things… we lose that. Can't you see why this is better?"

Tears ran down his face, but he nodded reluctantly. "But there must be another way."

"Sure," she grinned, though the smile did not reach her eyes. "_You_ figure out a way to get us out of here."

"Time's up," they looked up and saw Brakiss eyeing them disdainfully from the doorway. "Come, young Jacen; you will be late to your morning lessons."

After a tight, desperate hug, Jacen stood and slowly departed the room, shooting Jaina a last, anxious glance before the door slid closed.

"Was your visit… satisfactory?" Brakiss' tone was far too innocent, and Jacen clenched his teeth.

"Quite," was his stilted reply, and Brakiss was surprised that he didn't demand the immediate release of his sister back into his own meager protection.

Perhaps Zekk was too soft on the girl after all, despite his assurances.

X-X-X-X

Relieved but supremely bored, Jaina was deposited unceremoniously back in the detention wing that night with no explanation. That was fine- it was certainly preferable to spending her days and nights in Zekk's 'care.' Nevertheless, she missed Jacen's company, and wished that she had been permitted to return to the small cell they had shared. For now though, she knew he wasn't being harmed and that made it worth it.

Three days passed with no outside contact; only meals were deposited three times a day through a small door in the wall, and Jaina picked at them disinterestedly, knowing that starving herself would be of no help when Jacen figured out a way to escape. It was while she was gnawing thoughtfully on a bland piece of nerf strip that the door slid open for the first time since she'd arrived, and she spat out the food in surprise just before the tall, dark figure stepped through.

"Charming," Zekk glanced condescendingly down at her. "Get up." She did so, wondering if she had gotten too excited earlier at the fact that her body was being allowed time to actually heal. Only her ribs were tender now, and one of her cheeks was sensitive to a light touch, but otherwise, she felt better than she had in weeks. "Come on."

She hesitated only briefly, and he impatiently seized her arm in a firm but non-bruising grip before starting off down the corridor, the thunk of his boots reverberating off of the surrounding walls. Comparatively, Jaina made little noise as she was pulled along beside him, stocking feet silent against the cold floor. "Nice trip?" she asked sarcastically as he pushed her ahead of him into his room.

"A productive one," he replied smoothly and ambiguously, as though daring her to ask for further information and betray her interest at his absence during the past three days. Biting the inside of her cheek, she remained silent and standing in the center of the room, clenching her fist in nervousness, though concealing the gesture beneath the folds of her long, black robe. "Get ready for bed," he waved her generally in the direction of the refresher and turned to his own wardrobe, shedding his over-the-top cape as he went.

Jaina watched him with lingering eyes before turning back to the other door and palming it open. Instinctively, she reached for the controls on the other side of the door and then hesitated… and decided that it just wasn't worth getting him angry so soon. Sighing, wondering how he'd managed to completely take the fight out of her just by being _gone_, she retreated into the far corner and grabbed the waiting stack of clothing that he usually left out… and was relieved to see that the nightgown had been traded in for something similar to her initial pajamas.

When she slowly walked back out into the bedroom, she half-turned to retreat to her usual corner- and stopped, seeing Zekk applying bacta salve to a burn below his right elbow. Unconsciously scanning his bare torso, she saw several bruises, an angry red welt below his ribcage, and another burn or two curving away around the front of his body. "Productive indeed," she muttered quietly, wrenching her gaze away from a sight that would have horrified her before Zekk turned into this dark, cruel shadow of his former self.

He spared her a derisive glance over one shoulder. "Ah," he held up a finger, setting down the salve and turning to face her. "Not tonight."

Cocking a brow in faux-polite confusion, Jaina just stared. "Sorry?"

With a fast move, he was by her side and grabbing her shoulders, turning and steering her across the room. "You've been healing so nicely in my absence," he murmured close by her ear; she tried to pull out of his grip and he just tightened it painfully. "I'd hate to see you jeopardize that by returning to the cold, hard floor…"

"I'll take my chances," she bit, heart thudding suddenly. "Unless _you_ plan to sleep on the floor tonight?" she smiled sweetly and he actually chuckled- a sound that had once been so much warmer and friendlier.

"Don't be so purposely obtuse," he spoke softly in her ear, making her flinch. "It doesn't suit you. Come now- I'll even let you choose your side of the bed." She didn't move, and he circled around to peer into her face, cold, deadened eyes masked in a mocking softness. "You don't sleep well on the floor, hm?" he brushed a hand over the still-fading bruise on her cheek. "The bed _is_ much more comfortable, it's spacious…"

"That is _so_ beside the point," she muttered, pink and avoiding his eyes.

He gripped her chin in one hand, pulling her gaze back towards him. "I'm _making_ it the point," he hissed softly. "Now stop stalling and go to sleep."

Spinning away, he sent a Force-shove her way, pushing her backwards onto the bed. For a long minute, she just sat there, staring at his back while he continued to tend his injuries, shivering- though she didn't think it had much to do with the temperate of the room. Finally, with a deep, resigned breath, she yanked the top-most blanket from the bed and wrapped herself up in it before sidling to the far side and curling up, body pressed as tightly against the wall as possible.

When Zekk approached the bed ten minutes later, she tensed and willed her breathing to even, waiting…

He merely snapped for the lights to go out and slid under the blanket, turning over to face away from her, and maintaining as much distance from the small, shivering girl as possible.

X-X-X-X

The next two nights, the same procedure was repeated, with Zekk smacking her across the face the second night when she tried to sleep on the floor. On the third night, she didn't even attempt it, and just shot a glare at him as she stepped out of the refresher. He was already in the bed that time, eyeing her challengingly; she just looked down and stepped to the edge of the bed, hesitating briefly and steeling herself before sliding under the blanket and curling onto her side, perilously close to the edge.

Behind her, she could sense Zekk's dark amusement at her behavior but she ignored him; though she tensed as she felt his eyes boring in to the back of her head, and it took her a very long time to fall asleep.

As she drifted lazily into wakefulness the next morning, her first thought was that it had all been a dream, that she was in her own comfortable bed on Coruscant, or even in her small but cozy quarters in the Jedi temple on Yavin IV. The illusion didn't last long.

There was a light pressure at her hip, and she frowned, blinking her eyes several times to clear them of the haze of sleep… and then she was biting back an exclamation and careening backwards. The hand resting at her hip wrapped around her waist instinctively, dragging her back from the edge of the bed, before Zekk withdrew it sharply and backed away towards the wall, face retreating from where it had been entirely too close to hers upon waking.

They lay frozen like that for several seconds before Jaina scrambled from the bed, seized her black daily robe from the desk across the room, and disappeared into the refresher, closing the door behind her.

This time, Zekk did not reprimand her.

X-X-X-X

"How go things with the girl?"

Brakiss strode alongside his dark apprentice, reflecting on the duration of the Solo twins' captivity with relative frustration. In six weeks, they showed almost no progress towards abandoning Skywalker's foolish principles and embracing their full powers in the Force, powers that would have enabled them to long-ago escape the less-than-strict confines of their imprisonment. The wookiee had proven slightly more promising, but Tamith Kai still insisted that she needed more time with him, and Brakiss wondered how much time they truly had.

Zekk laughed lowly. "Seeing her struggling to fight, forcing herself to pick her battles… it is a most satisfying experience, my master. I have her wound so tight that she can hardly tell when it might be worth angering me to contradict my orders."

"And when she does?"

"She is reprimanded properly," his darkest knight assured him.

Brakiss nodded. "Good, good…"

They continued walking for a few minutes before Zekk spoke up again, almost hesitantly. "You seem… distracted, master."

"Hm," the older man murmured. "True; the time will soon come for us to go against Skywalker's pathetic academy, and I had rather hoped to have made more progress with the Solo twins before then. I am beginning to fear though, that the cause is lost. As you said yourself, they are unfazed by pain and suffering, and the boy is not giving in to his distress as much as I'd hoped. It seems to me that they will not be broken."

"My lord," Zekk spoke haltingly, "I suggested once before that their positions be reversed, that the girl will prove more adaptable if the brother is made to suffer, not the other way around."

His mentor eyed him calculatingly for a long moment. "You are… uncomfortable… hurting the girl?"

"No!" his green eyes widened. "Not at all, master; I just feel that better progress could be made by pursuing a different avenue."

"Ah," Brakiss smiled dangerously, "you misunderstand the ultimate goal here."

"My lord?"

"The girl is far too unpredictable; even if she were to give in to her anger, she could not be trusted for long. No, I have abandoned the idea of turning them _both_- but the boy… he would have proved a great asset. He is strong, in control, thoughtful but a fast-actor… no, Knight Zekk, I decided long ago that Jacen Solo would be my target in this little… experiment. His sister just became the means to an end."

Zekk blinked a few times. "Then… you planned this from the first time you had me confront her?"

Brakiss' eyes widened in delightful innocence. "Me, Zekk? Your actions have always been _your_ choice, I merely… present you with your options. It is no matter though- the quest has failed, and we must accept-"

"No," Zekk broke in quickly before averting his gaze downwards. "My apologies, master- but I haven't failed you yet. Jacen Solo will be yours, and the girl will yet prove instrumental to his turning, I will stake my position on it."

"I know you will, Zekk," Brakiss murmured softly, approvingly. "You haven't failed me yet…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Part IV**

Jaina stepped out of the refresher, sighing in exasperation. Zekk was leaning against the wardrobe, arms crossed over his bare chest, eyeing her closely, like a predator on the hunt. For a minute, she just stood, willing him to not make her say it, but he remained stoic and she relented with another heavy sigh. "I think you forgot something?" she bit.

"Oh?" he didn't move as he allowed his eyes to trail languidly over her form.

Pursing her lips in annoyance and frustration, she did not move from the doorway, her own arms crossed over the bathrobe she wore. "Something to sleep in, perhaps?" she ground out.

He cocked his head to one side and she flushed, feeling his eyes slide up and down her body once more. "No."

"No," she deadpanned.

"No," he repeated firmly. "You don't need anything to sleep in. Not yet, anyway."

Her brow rose. "Does that mean I get to go back to the detention block?"

"No."

She blinked. "You've lost me then." She strode forward and grabbed her folded black robe from the desk. "You said to get ready for bed." A hand descended on her shoulder as she turned to go back to the refresher. "What?" she snapped, and his eyes flashed but he restrained himself.

"You're being obtuse again," he murmured, sliding his hand down her arm before slipping under the wide hem of the sleeve and seizing her wrist in a tight grip. "Going to bed…" he brought his other hand up and gripped her face, "and going to sleep can have two _remarkably_ different meanings…"

Wrenching her face from his grasp, she recoiled. "Go to hell."

"Now now," he pulled her back towards him and took her other wrist, bringing her arms around behind her back and securing them with one hand while the other reached over her shoulder, pulling damp hair from her face, and rested against her neck. "There's no need to be like that. As far as I see things, we can do this one of two ways."

His voice was low and soft, and it made her cringe as infuriated tears began to well up in her eyes. "Let me go," she insisted more bravely than she felt. "If you wanted to rape me, you would have done it weeks ago."

He chuckled and the sound only frightened her more. In the back of her mind, she was vaguely aware of Jacen becoming alert to her fear, and she wanted nothing better than to reassure him, but even if she hadn't been wearing the impulse cuff, she doubted she'd have been able. "Don't be ridiculous," Zekk murmured, turning her face slightly towards him. "I don't want to rape you, and you're not going to make me."

"To _make_ you?" she demanded, trying again in vain to pull free of his grip, but her arms were securely pinned.

"Like I said," he continued smoothly, "we can do this one of two ways. Your way- in which you fight and struggle and, in the end, I still get what I want, and you're suffering the painful consequences of resisting me in the first place. Or, we can do this _my_ way- in which you cooperate," his hand at her neck descended, coming to rest at her waist, "and as a reward for your promised good behavior, I'll remove your impulse bracelet."

"How about a third way that involves giving me some kriffing pajamas and going to sleep? Or better yet, tossing me back in my little cell, _alone_."

He released her wrists and she spun quickly away, backing across the room as far as possible- which was, unfortunately for her, not very far. "Hey," his voice was still soft but his tone had sharpened. "I'm only trying to help you. I don't want to see you in any more pain than necessary…" he took in her wild, trapped eyes. "And if you just do as I ask, you can have the returned usage of your full range of pain-suppression abilities and healing trance powers from the moment you agree," he held up a hand, as though preparing to release the cuff, "until tomorrow morning. I give you my word."

A strangled laugh that was more sob than anything escaped her. "Your _word_?" she demanded. "Your word? What exactly is _that_ worth?"

He frowned. "Have I not been reasonable with you?" he asked calmly. "I allowed you to sleep in a bed, gave your body a better chance to heal, recover…"

"A better tactic would be not hurting me in the first place," she snapped. "And that doesn't count- you _made_ me sleep in the bed."

He frowned in consternation. "No, I didn't. I've not said a word about it for three nights now. It's _you_ who has willingly joined me."

She opened her mouth and stopped, seething. He was right, of course, but only in a technicality. She had really just given up on fighting him about it, knowing that he'd force the issue, painfully if need be. And now, he was trapping her again, but the stakes were so much higher, and she looked desperately around the room, willing inspiration to come to her. None did. By abandoning the small fights to save herself the inevitable pain, she had played herself right into this corner.

"What will it be then?" he walked slowly towards her. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you make me. And don't think that you'll be able to fight me off- you won't succeed and you'll only serve to make me… angry."

"You're despicable."

"I'll be kind," he murmured softly in her ear, one arm braced against the wall, body pinning hers in place. He reached his free hand to her left wrist and ran his fingers over the impulse-emitter, toying with her freedom. "I'll even be as gentle as you ask of me, and you'll have the whole night with the Force back to recover from any… unavoidable pain and discomfort." His eyes flashed in darkened desire and she bit her lip to stop it from trembling.

Mind working fast and getting nowhere, Jaina tried desperately to understand why he was doing this. If it was to get at her, he wouldn't offer to take off her wrist cuff, wouldn't bother with the mock pleasantries. But to get at Jacen… if he removed the cuff, she'd be able to communicate with him again, and could sever her connection with him- but could she do it if she weren't being viciously hurt? She wasn't sure, and judging from Zekk's gamble, he- or Brakiss- probably thought she couldn't.

Which made Zekk's 'offer' make a lot more sense. It left her with the choice of suffering and no way to alleviate it, no way to stop Jacen from feeling it, no way to prevent his undoubted outrage when he realized what was happening; _or_ it gave her the chance to largely spare them both the physical pain, but emotionally… well, either way, Jaina knew she would not recover for a long time, and Jacen would be left feeling betrayed, knowing that his sister gave herself willingly to their tormentor…

She clenched her eyes closed and gasped for breath, suffocating against Zekk's insistent presence. Forcing herself to calm down, to regain control, she stared at her feet and muttered her answer.

"Take the cuff off," her voice was barely over a whisper. "And I'll cooperate."

He let out a breath and sighed against her. "I knew you would," he murmured, trailing his fingers up to the cuff once more. With a click, it came off into his hand, and Jaina felt a sudden sense of freedom, hindered by her own fear and anxiety, but comforting nonetheless. "You've always been smart…" his hand returned to her waist and began to toy with the sash of the robe, just enough to make her stomach clench in discomfiting fear again.

"I…" she couldn't stop the beginnings of a worried protest forming.

"Shh," he pressed a finger to her lips and, abandoning the tie, pulled her away from the wall, leading her across the room once more to his bed. A dry sob threatened to escape her throat, but he turned to face her, cupping her face in one hand while she stared down at the floor. "Don't be afraid, Jaina…"

His kind tone and soft touch caught her off guard, and it was the first time she could remember him using her given name since she'd been forced to take up quarters with him- or had it been her choice? Had sleeping in his bed been her choice? Was _this?_ She didn't even know anymore which, she supposed, was his plan all along… she looked up at him in surprise- and started.

His eyes were a vibrant emerald green, full of the same boisterous life and energy that she has grown up seeing in him. And in his face, in his very aura in the Force, she could sense something familiar, yet terrifying in its perverseness…

Affection. True, honest, innocently youthful affection.

She bit back a cry and pulled away reflexively, unable to comprehend how, in that moment, he looked and felt so much like the old Zekk, but would do this to her and Jacen, would coerce her into something that would scar her forever, even if he _did_ make it seem like her choice, that he wasn't really raping her…

The eyes darkened once more, and the familiarity quickly vanished. He stalked towards her and yanked on her arm, stinging muscles that had already been pulled or injured in recent weeks. She could feel Jacen's panic in her mind, overlapping her own as she tried to calm down, to relax…

With a click, she looked down and saw the impulse-emitting cuff secured once more around her wrist. For a fleeting moment, she thought that Zekk had changed his mind, that he had realized, in that moment of self-awareness, that this wasn't him, that he didn't really want to do this, that Brakiss was manipulating him…

And then his hands were yanking the tie of her robe, hastily undoing the knot, and she struggled against him. "Zekk," she cried, staring at the cuff on her wrist, "what…?"

"You think too loudly," he hissed. "I'm altering our agreement."

Time ceased to move as she stared at him unblinkingly, even as he shoved her back across the room and she stumbled, falling to the floor in front of the bed, trying to protect her modesty, attempting to refasten the robe.

"But…" she stammered, blinking through tears, "you said… if I cooperate… you gave me your word, Zekk!"

His cruel smile and disbelieving snort made something tear inside of her, paralyzed her with grief, with betrayal and fear, as he pulled her to her feet and spun her around, tearing the robe from her shoulders and shoving her forward onto the bed where she huddled, breathing raggedly, unable to meet his eyes that had darkened nearly to black.

"And you believed me?"

That time- Jaina cried.

X-X-X-X

Jacen knelt numbly on the floor of his cell, head clutched in his hands.

For only a moment, Jaina's presence had returned to him full-force, and he had jumped immediately to the hopeful conclusion that it was over, that Zekk was releasing her… and then she had just as abruptly disappeared again, back to the subdued state forced by the cuff that prevented her from reaching out to him or maintaining their strong mental connection.

And now, she was in more pain than he could ever remember- but only part of it was physical… the sense of utter betrayal stung him and he wept, knowing that she had miscalculated Zekk, that she had allowed herself to believe that he wouldn't harm her too badly, and he had used her naïveté in the utmost…

He was all too aware of the sudden barrage of pain, as much as he tried to separate her sensations from his own mind… her emotions and sensations were too strong, her inability to allay them and block them made them that much stronger to Jacen, and he struggled to even send her his own strength through their bond, fought through her own terror to bolster her…

Something rent at their bond and Jacen clawed at it, tried to force his way to her… and then a sharp assault of a whole new kind of pain- physical and emotional, Jacen thought- sent him careening out of her mind, and he cried out, trembling, paralyzed on the cold, hard floor.

Distantly- or perhaps in his mind, even- he heard a loud, mournful howl of a wookiee.

X-X-X-X

Zekk stared with dead eyes at the prone figure, a latent thought deep in his mind suggesting that he should feel _something_ right now, anything… but a weight pressed against his mind, and no emotion could be coaxed to the surface, save a slight uneasiness as he glimpsed the dark stains of dried blood on her back, the visible side of her face, on the bed around her. He pushed the sensation away with effort and briefly toyed with the idea of summoning a medical droid while he was gone for the next few hours…

And then the whisper of an approaching presence drove the thought from his mind completely and, almost as an afterthought, he covered the bruised and bloodied girl with a sheet moments before the door slid open. He turned and nodded at his mentor.

"Lord Brakiss."

The blond, handsome man smiled at his young apprentice. "Knight Zekk," he inclined his head. "I have only come to check on you and your… captive." He approached the bed slowly, and Zekk fought back the urge to tell him not to touch her, that the girl was too injured, as Brakiss lifted the sheet and peered curiously at the broken body. "My," he murmured, "you had an… exciting night, I daresay."

"Is my lord… displeased?"

Brakiss chuckled lowly, dropping the sheet back over Jaina's back and turning back to Zekk. "Of course not, my darkest knight, you've done well. Come, walk with me…" He led the way out of the room and Zekk pressed the release, closing the door, with a last glance back into the room. "I admit, I wasn't sure that you would be able to follow through on your promise, but I stand mistaken, and must express my own sincere apologies for doubting you. You've not yet failed me, my boy."

A sense of satisfaction stirred deep inside Zekk before he frowned and pushed it away. Something about Brakiss' tone made him wary… like he wasn't telling him something… "Has her brother been sufficiently crippled then?"

"Oh, yes. And the wookiee," he added, sounding surprised. "Even some of our younger students were noticeably disquieted by the girl's pain last night. Solo and the wookiee are well on their way to ultimately giving in to us, we just need to wait for that last little… persuasion."

"Master?"

Brakiss shrugged. "The girl's use is at an end, you've accomplished everything I could have dreamed with her. Her death will provide the catalyst we need for her brother to give in fully to his despair and embrace the dark side."

Something clicked inside Zekk's mind, and he forced himself to keep walking, forced himself to master his emotions. "And… when do you intend to kill her, my lord?"

"Me?" Brakiss turned, brow raised. "After the frustration I caused you, inflicting her constant presence on you for the past couple weeks… Knight Zekk, I wouldn't dream of denying you the satisfaction of killing her yourself."


	5. Chapter 5

**Part V**

"_He'll push and push, you'll hurt her more and more… until either you're broken or she is. And if she breaks first, Brakiss will tell you to kill her- because if you kill Jaina, you will never be redeemed, your own soul will be so far shattered and you'll become exactly what Brakiss wants from you."_

He tried to drive Jacen Solo's infuriated, earnest voice from his mind, but the effort was futile as he sat in the chair by the desk, hands gripping the sides of his head, staring wide-eyed at the still-unconscious girl on his bed. The med droids had cleaned her up as much as possible, and he had draped her in a thick blanket, but there had been no change in her consciousness. He honestly couldn't tell if it was due to her injuries, due to efforts of her brother to keep her unconscious to protect her from her own pain and horror, or whether she'd simply had enough and, Force or no Force, had sunk into a place so deep that she would not emerge without outside assistance.

"_Can't you see that it's you that Brakiss is playing here?"_

"_Do not blame me for your sister's poor decisions."_

He growled and tried desperately to keep the voices at bay.

"_Me, Zekk? Your actions have always been your choice, I merely… present you with your options."_

Her choices, his choices… Jacen was wrong, he didn't answer to Brakiss… not like that, anyway. And Jaina…

"_Don't you see that Brakiss is using you?"_

"_It's _you_ who has willingly joined me."_

Of course it had never been her choice- the choice had never been implied, he had manipulated her into accepting something that made her uncomfortable- per Brakiss' orders- until she was doing it without being told to, without being forced to. That wasn't a choice, that was simple duplicity. Much as last night, he'd forced her to 'choose' to willingly sleep with him…

With a groan, he stood and crossed to the bed, sitting gingerly next to her small form. Never, in the years he had known Jaina, had she looked so vulnerable as in this moment, as he slowly drew the blanket down her bare shoulders and ghosted his fingers over a red welt on her back. How had that happened? He couldn't even remember what he had used to cause such a mark, and his eyes darted quickly around the room for a likely suspect of a weapon before he cast his gaze back to the girl beside him. "Jaina…" he murmured softly, closing his eyes.

She twitched and whimpered; he drew his hand away as if burned.

Resting his head back in one hand, he just watched her for several minutes while he tried to understand his own inner turmoil.

"_The anger you feel isn't really yours, Zekk, surely you can see that…?"_

He had never intended on hurting her; not like this. Hell, he had decided the first time her confronted her that he had no interest in her sexually- she had been too… listless, had simply closed down at the prospect of his assault on her… so what had changed, between then and last night, and between the outset of the night and its conclusion?

"_I haven't failed you yet. Jacen Solo will be yours, and the girl will yet prove instrumental to his turning, I will stake my position on it."_

"_I know you will, Zekk. You haven't failed me yet."_

How had he been so instantly distracted from his analysis, that Jaina Solo would not be affected by their continued efforts against her? He thought back, to the disappointment in Brakiss' eyes when he had dejectedly declared that the Solo twins were a lost cause, that Zekk had failed to convert one of them or the other to the dark side…

And it hadn't even taken a second thought to know what he had to do, as he had thought about Jacen's entreaties to leave Jaina alone, that she was too… young. He knew that his weakness would lay in a different sort of violation of her body than Brakiss and Tamith Kai had considered, but that didn't have to mean a violent one. His plan had been well-contrived, a grim satisfaction stemming from her predictable bowing to his pressure, her willingness to play along in their little charade to save herself- or Jacen, he couldn't be sure- from the pain of him forcing her.

And then he had done it anyway.

"_Jaina Solo doesn't cry; not for anyone." _

"_What about two days ago, Zekk? Did she cry for you then?"_

He had finally seen Jaina Solo cry, and it was entirely his doing.

"_He'll push and push, you'll hurt her more and more… until either you're broken or she is."_

"_You gave me your word, Zekk!"_

What if it broke them both?

X-X-X-X

She fought against the pressure for a long time, but her mind was weakening. A vague part of her wondered idly how that was possible, that her mind would be too weak to remain unconscious, but the thought slipped away through her own apathetic mood. It was with great reluctance, therefore, that she acknowledged the slow and painful return to consciousness, as much as she just wanted to stay asleep…

"_Jaina_…" was the voice in her mind? _"Jaina, you have to wake up…_"

She twitched and mumbled vaguely to herself, trying to push the other presence away, but it latched on to her vague awareness and wouldn't relent. "Jaina!"

That was a voice she knew. Right?

Did that matter? Did she care? She gave the mental equivalent of a shrug and tried to force her way deeper into her own mind, where she didn't have to care about voices and pain and piercing emerald eyes…

Piercing emerald eyes? That thought gave her pause, and the presence latched firmly to her hesitation. "Jaina, wake up, please." With a painful sigh that pressed against bruised ribs, she forced her eyes open, and found the green ones from her memory peering back at her. She started and frowned. "Jaina," the voice sounded… relieved? "Come on, get up and get dressed."

She blinked once or twice… and then closed her eyes and let her mind drift again, sinking away to a place where breath itself was not a chore, where every inch of her body didn't scream in pain.

Why was she in so much pain?

The question woke her a little more and she tried once more to focus on those eyes. Familiar, but displaced somehow… like they didn't belong here. For that matter- where was here? Another pressure pressed against her mind, and she scowled mentally before sighing and letting the warm thoughts of her twin brother drift over her.

Where was Jacen, anyway?

"Jaina," the voice snapped her back to the moment, "_please_. You need to get dressed, there isn't much time."

"Time?" she asked carefully, voice croaking and straining against unused vocal cords and her dry throat.

More of the face came into view as she focused more clearly. "Yes," he nodded encouragingly, apparently heartened by her ability to speak at all. "We don't have much time. I have to get you out of here before Brakiss kills you."

That sounded… inconvenient. But the prospect of going anywhere sounded even more so, so she just set her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes, reveling in the warmth as she wriggled her body against the thick blankets and soft sheets…

A sharp pain bit into her arm and her eyes shot open angrily. "Stim-shot," emerald-green-eyes explained, tossing the used spring shot canister across the room onto a desk. Her mind started to clear a little, and she became vaguely aware of her brother's confusion and… anger, perhaps, and then the two presences pressing in on her mind began to fight for control, and she brought a hand up to clutch her forehead.

"Get out of my head," she whined.

With an abruptness that surprised even her, both presences pulled away and ceased their battle- and suddenly, everything cleared up a lot. She blinked in confusion up at Zekk, frowned, and then sent him flying across the room out of pure reflex as she scrambled across the bed to cower against the wall, fighting a fresh wave of pain and willing the Force to relieve her of some of it…

The Force…

The cuff was gone from her wrist. She sensed Jacen probing against her thoughts and emotions, and she understood foggily that he had been trying to keep her in a healing trance or some such while Zekk had simultaneously been attempting to force her awake.

Figures.

"Jaina," the latter person in question stood and slowly approached the bed, "I know, I'm the last person you want to see right now, and that's fine, you won't have to see me much longer. But I _really_ need you to get dressed so we can go and get your brother and Lowbacca."

She studied his face in fearful confusion, heart wrenching apart at the sight of his earnest, emerald eyes, eyes that were so much like the boy who was gone now, the boy who had turned into the Second Imperium's prize student…

"No."

He blinked a few times. "Jaina, I want to get the three of you out of here. Brakiss is determined that I kill you before morning, this is your only chance of escape."

"Why don't you just kill me then, if that's what Brakiss wants?"

"Because that's not what _I_ want," he snarled, and she recoiled. "Come on," he reached for her arm, "we don't have time for this."

"Let go!" she shrieked. He did and backed away. Once satisfied, she slid forward and touched her bare feet gingerly to the cold floor. Zekk tossed her a black robe, and she stood, shedding the blanket away from her body as she unfurled the cloth. Zekk flushed and turned away, reaching for another injection canister, and Jaina let out a barking laugh that held no amusement. "Now it bothers you to see me naked," she muttered. "Great priorities."

"Jaina…"

She stopped him with a deadly glare as she smoothed the robe over her bruised form. "Well," she snapped. "Let's go see Brakiss and get this whole 'killing me' thing over with, shall we?"

His face contorted in an unreadable expression. "Jaina," he pleaded, "I'm not going to kill you."

"Oh?" she stopped at the doorway, waiting for Zekk to key in the release code. "Why should I believe that? Do you… give me your word?"

X-X-X-X

Jacen prowled around his small cell, furious… not that this was anything new, he had done little else in the past twenty-four hours, ever since his sister's keening pain had abated enough for him to pick himself up from the floor. He had screamed and raged and sobbed, to no avail… and then he finally had calmed enough to gain some level access to his sister's mind again, and he'd relentlessly tried to take away some of her pain, and he could feel Lowie doing the same from somewhere across the detention center…

And eventually, she'd slipped into unconsciousness, and Jacen threw his efforts into guiding her into a healing trance. He wasn't entirely sure if it had been successful, but her pain had abated, and that was what concerned him in the moment. And then, the next night- just minutes ago- he had felt her slipping out of that trance.

Confused, he had returned to his efforts to keep her unconscious and healing, but it soon became evident that someone else was countering his attempt. Frowning at the vaguely familiar presence, Jacen quickly recognized Zekk and growled furiously before pushing back hard, challenging the dark teen to stay away from his sister, to come after him instead. His goading had apparently gone unnoticed, and he struggled harder, feeling Jaina slowly rise to consciousness, felt her pain returning full-force, felt her confusion…

And then felt her abrupt demand that the two stop waging war in her mind, and he had pulled away quickly, albeit reluctantly. She was awake now, and there was nothing he could do.

For ten or fifteen minutes, he just paced, mulling over his own fury, willing it to abate, to think logically… and then he felt people approaching, and he tensed as the door slid open… revealing the very person at whom his dark thoughts had been directed.

With a growl, he started towards his former friend… and then stopped abruptly, seeing Jaina standing behind and slightly beside him. Something was… off… about her presence, something missing in the way she registered to him in the Force. "Jaina…" he breathed, and her head swung slowly towards him. For a terrified moment, he watched her confused eyes before she blinked and smiled in recognition, starting forward. Zekk held out an arm and stopped her. "You- what the hell have you done to her?" Jacen demanded, trying to gauge whether he could get past the dark Jedi and get to his sister.

Zekk ignored the question. "Come with me," he ordered lowly.

"What?"

"Oh, for the love of…" Zekk muttered to himself. "Just do it, Solo."

When Jacen didn't come forward immediately, he turned and seized Jaina's arm, earning a surprised cry as he pulled her along. As predicted, this jolted Jacen out of inaction, and he rushed forward and pulled his sister out of Zekk's grasp. "Hold on just a minute…"

"Shut up!" Zekk hissed, leading them along down deserted corridors. "You're leaving here, tonight."

"It's true," Jaina murmured close against Jacen's ear, but still loud enough for the other to hear. "He gave me his _word_." She giggled softly and Jacen frowned down at her, sensing a sudden spike of emotion from Zekk that was difficult to place.

Seeing no reasonable alternative- no alternative at all, save returning to his cell- Jacen followed, keeping a protective arm around his sister who he eyed with concern. "I had to give her a stim-shot and a pain-reliever," Zekk muttered lowly as he peered around a corner. "Apparently the two don't, er… mix, so well."

His swelling of anger made Jaina flinch away from Jacen's grasp, and his heart sank at the sight of her confused, wide-eyed gaze. "I'm sorry, Jaina," he pulled her back to him, keeping his emotions in check.

"Don't be mad," she said earnestly. "That's what Brakiss wants. He thinks you'll join the Shadow Academy when Zekk kills me."

Emerald eyes met brandy-brown ones, and Jacen read a great many things inside those eyes- but not any current intention of harming either of them. With a fast glance at Jaina, Zekk turned and motioned them down another corridor. In just a few minutes, he turned and keyed in a code clearance, and a blast door opened in the wall… revealing a sizeable hangar beyond, with one sleek, impressive shuttle sitting right in front of them.

"Where's Brakiss?" Jaina asked, peering around in intent confusion. Zekk grimaced at her and then looked around, searching for something…

And then a great wookiee bellow sounded through the hangar, reverberating off of the metallic surfaces, and all three of them winced, Jaina covering her ears. "Lowie," she exclaimed, "thanks for staying out of my head tonight…"

The wookiee barked something confused-sounding, and Jacen just shook his head. Two students were walking on either side of Lowie, who still had an electric pulse cuff on one arm, and they looked at Zekk in confusion.

"Knight Zekk," they inclined their heads together. "We brought the wookiee mechanic you requested to repair the shuttle…" the male peered over at Jacen and an awestruck Jaina, who was staring at the shuttle in question. "What did you bring them for?"

"Special orders from Lord Brakiss," Zekk muttered gruffly, approaching them. "He has something special planned for killing the girl, he wanted the wookiee to see it too…" and with a fast motion, Zekk was clubbing both students in the temple with the butt of his lightsaber. Lowie let out a plaintive howl, and Zekk hastily removed the binders from his arms, as well as the extra cuff, slipping it into his pocket. He used the Force to push both students through the nearest blast door and depressed the button with his mind, sealing the four of them alone in the hangar. "Come on," he muttered, leading them towards the shuttle.

"Hey," Jaina frowned and tugged at Zekk's sleeve. "How come you didn't make Lowie get dressed…?"

"Jaina, he's a wookiee, they don't generally wear clothes. _You_, on the other hand, would attract a bit of attention were you to stroll about… without any."

She appeared to mull that over. "You didn't seem to mind _un_dressing me last night…" she giggled.

Jacen closed his eyes as his twin inadvertently confirmed for him what he'd been dreading. Lowie let out a roar and pushed Zekk against the hull of the ship, where he clanged his head rather hard, but stared the wookiee down, unfazed.

"Lowbacca," he said, "you can kill me now and then hope that you have time to splice into the ships entry ramp before someone realizes you're here. _Or_, you can let me open the ship, key in the access clearances to get you into space, and be content with knowing that Brakiss will kill me soon after you're gone."

With a last, teeth-baring growl, Lowie released him and Zekk swiftly strode to the control panel and released the landing ramp. Leading the way into the state-of-the-art craft, he opened the cockpit and sat down at the controls, pressing in clearance codes and hearing the soothing sound of the repulsorjets firing up.

When he turned away from the computer, Lowie was settling himself into the pilot's chair, and Jaina in the co-pilot's. "I probably wouldn't let her fly," he muttered to Jacen. "She's loopy now, and once the meds wear off, she's going to be in a lot of pain."

Jacen nodded tersely. "Whatever Brakiss does, Zekk, it'll be too good for you after this."

A moment of silence greeted this declaration, and Jaina turned around to stare, wide-eyed, at her brother and the dark Jedi-trainee who had hurt her so grievously.

"I know." His eyes met Jaina's ever-so-briefly before he flinched and looked away, back towards Jacen. "I deserve everything he has coming at me. I just…" he trailed away and closed his eyes, as Lowie barked impatiently at them. "You were right, Jacen. About everything. Except it wasn't one or the other- he pushed until it broke us both."

Lowie howled mournfully and looked at Jaina, who was sitting back with a deep look of consternation on her face.

"You're a two-day jump from Yavin," he said quickly. "There's a med bay in the back of the ship, but you should get her to a real medcenter as soon as possible." A shadow crossed his face. "May the Force be with you."

Jacen watched him turn away with a mixture of revulsion and pity on his face. Zekk was almost to the hatch when Jaina spoke up, sounding surprisingly serious after her amused ramblings from earlier. "Wait." Zekk paused, and Jacen wondered if he shouldn't get Jaina settled in the back now rather than later. "If we leave Zekk here for Brakiss to kill him, we're as bad as all of them."

Zekk whirled and met her gaze, green eyes blazing. "I've done too many bad things, Jaina, and most of them to you. When those shots I gave you wear off, you're going to remember that, and you're going to want nothing more than to jettison me out of the escape pod mid-jump."

"Jaina, we need to go…"

"No," her brow furrowed. "Everyone has the chance to come back to the light side, right?" She peered at Jacen earnestly. "Right? Even Brakiss was given the chance by Uncle Luke. Uncle Luke should decide on Zekk's fate. We can't leave him here."

Lowie growled impatiently again, and Jacen huffed a frustration sigh. "Fine," he snapped. "Fine. But only if you put on one of those blasted electric-cuff things."

"It's really not a good idea…"

"Sit down!" Jaina hissed, and Zekk's eyes widened before he complied with a startled look. Lowie let out a bark of satisfaction and the shuttle rose instantly, veering for the hangar opening. Zekk reached over and keyed the access code remotely to open the force-field, and an alarm sounded moments later.

It didn't matter. Jacen was already calculating the hyperspace jump while Jaina was staring around in mild confusion as they shot from the hangar. Two minutes later, as the first ships were launching from the battle station, Lowie pulled back the levers, and the four of them went careening into hyperspace, out of the reach of Brakiss and Tamith Kai.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part VI**

Jacen sat back in his seat with a relieved sigh, before he remembered one very important thing- Zekk was still with them, and he had not yet secured the cuff on his arm.

Standing and stepping past Jaina, who was now leaning back heavily in the large co-pilot seat, eyes closed, he approached Zekk, lips twisting into a cold grimace of fury even as he tried desperately to shove the feelings down, for Jaina if nothing else. Before he could even say anything, Zekk was passing him his lightsaber and the electric impulse cuff. "It's a low-security system," the black-haired teen muttered monotonously. "You only need to Force to latch or unlatch it, so anyone can do it except the person wearing it."

Nodding grimly, Jacen pressed the manacle around Zekk's wrist and felt for the small locking mechanism, clicking it into place properly on the third try, and allowing himself the slightest satisfaction at seeing Zekk wince as the small impulses were sent through his system. Making sure that the blade was locked off, Jacen then tucked the lightsaber into his pocket and stepped away in disgust. "I really hope Jaina doesn't regret this when she's more coherent," he muttered.

"She will," Zekk murmured softly back, turning his head away to stare at the back of the pilot's seat, where Lowie was doing the last systems' checks.

The young wookiee declared them set for the duration of the jump, which was just over forty hours, and swung his seat around to lock fierce gazes with Zekk, who flinched slightly but did not look away. He barked a harsh question, but Zekk did not understand the slightest bit of Shyriiwook. "Where's Em Teedee?" Jacen frowned, and Lowie reached into his belt and produced the small translator, growling a short but complicated explanation that Jacen attempted to follow.

"She… hold on. She… reprogrammed him?" he asked.

Lowie nodded and switched on the small, annoying droid- who was now more annoying than ever, they soon found out.

"Master Lowbacca!" his tinny voice reprimanded. "It is late and you are not in your room; you are violating the Shadow Academy regulations, and Mistress Tamith Kai will be most displeased!" Lowie growled a satisfied-sounding explanation, and the droid seemed momentarily dumbstruck. "You… stole a ship? Master Lowbacca! The Empire is your friend, why would you steal its shuttle?"

Jacen quirked a brow and nodded resignedly. "Don't worry," he reassured his friend. "You'll be able to fix him, and we'll get Artoo and Threepio to help, I'm sure mom, dad, and Chewie will be heading to Yavin once they hear…" he trailed away and glanced at Jaina, but her seat remained facing front, and he could not see her face.

"Fix me!" Em Teedee was oblivious to Jacen's sudden concern for his sister. "Master Jacen, I can assure you that there is _nothing_ wrong with my programming, and my circuits are performing admirably."

"Uh-huh," Jacen grumbled.

Lowie barked his initial question, directed at Zekk, and the little droid was temporarily distracted by performing his given duty. "Ah, Master Zekk, Lowbacca wishes to know whether Lord Brakiss is to blame for your… oh dear… for your lowly behavior that puts you beneath all manner of galactic scum and villainy which Master Lowbacca can currently call to mind." Lowie growled. "Master Lowbacca, my circuits are simply _not_ programmed to be so crude!"

"It's alright, Em Teedee, I get the picture," Zekk said softly, standing. "And to answer your question, Lowbacca- no. Brakiss may have planted the ideas in my head, but the final decision to act was always mine. I was simply too proud to admit to myself that Brakiss was using me for his own ends, so I convinced myself that I was serving my own purposes in my actions. I was… mistaken… though I did not see it until far too late." He shot a pain-filled look over the back of Jaina's chair. "Jacen, you _really_ should set her up in the med bay before that pain-killer wears off."

"Where are you going?" the younger teen demanded sharply.

Zekk closed his eyes and sighed. "There are two cabins in the back, two bunks each. I'm going to get out of your way, feel free to lock me in if you'd prefer, but… I think it's probably best if I remain… unobtrusive… for the duration of the flight."

"On that," Jacen muttered, gently tilting Jaina's chair around to examine his sister's wellbeing, "we agree."

X-X-X-X

After settling Jaina into the med bay, where she'd quickly fallen asleep despite the stim-shot, Jacen retired to the cabin opposite the one Zekk had taken up and left Lowie in control of the ship to he could calm his mind, relax… and try to reach out to his uncle and mother, to try to tell them that they had escaped, that they could abandon the search…

He felt Luke's responding touch first, and he put all of his focus towards reassuring him that they were safe, that they were headed back to the temple. It was a level of communication that he had never truly accomplished with anyone, save Jaina, but he caught his uncle's flicker of confused but pleased comprehension before another presence brushed against his mind, and he started before recognizing his good friend, Tenel Ka. He grinned, realizing that she must have been on the hunt with Luke, and the thought gave him a warm, fluttery feeling inside that he quickly buried in light of more serious tasks.

Reaching out once more, he grasped at the connections he shared with his younger brother, Anakin, and his mother, though he was more skeptical of them understanding the message, since both were less trained in the Force than the twins and certainly than Luke. Nevertheless, he sent gentle waves of comforting vibes to them both, though without the responding touch like Luke had sent, he had no way of knowing if they'd been received or comprehended at all.

Once that was done, Jacen set about the more daunting task at hand- learning precisely what was wrong with Jaina. Physically, she was obviously well enough to move about of her own volition, despite the apparent pain she was in. But something about her felt wrong, and Jacen didn't think it had to do with the interaction of the two drugs Zekk had injected her with.

Before they arrived in the Yavin system, Jacen fully intended to learn _precisely_ what had transpired between his sister and Zekk throughout the duration of her separation from him and isolation in Zekk's quarters- particularly, he needed to know what had happened the prior night. But that conversation with Zekk would need to wait until Jacen was more confident in his own patience and self-restraint. For now, he wanted to put forth as much energy as possible into learning about Jaina's state of wellbeing, both physically and emotionally, and so he once more sat back and relaxed against the wall, stretching out with his mind, probing for his sister's presence in the aft part of the ship…

And he almost recoiled at the pain roiling through her. She was asleep, of that he was sure, but the pain relief seemed to have worn off, and he felt a general ache pouring from her, more concentrated in some places than others, but ever-present and suffocating.

But not as suffocating as the broken sense of betrayal that lingered beneath the surface of her unconscious mind; the same sense that had flared suddenly to him the night before, that had driven him to the floor in despair for her. Whatever had happened between her and Zekk- and Jacen thought he knew what that was- it had broken something inside of her, and try as he might, Jacen was at a loss of how to fix it. Her mind seemed to be in a similar state as that following Zekk's first assault on her, when Brakiss had led Jacen away to taunt him simultaneously… but she had woken renewed and refreshed the next day, wounded but not devastated.

Now though… there was little improvement, and Jacen fought to penetrate the thick shell of her defenses that she had unconsciously erected around her pain. Another wave of cold anger swept through him and he withdrew from her mind quickly, unwilling to cause her any further ache at his inability to control his emotions.

With a cold, calculating curiosity, he gently probed across the hallway and found Zekk's alert mind- still awake then. He was unable to hold the connection for long though, as Zekk's turmoil, confusion, bitterness, and regret made him shiver and gasp for air.

X-X-X-X

"Jaina?"

She didn't turn at the sound of his voice, and Jacen's heart cracked just a little further at the coldness emanating from her. "Did you sleep alright?" Nodding mutely, there was no other reaction as Jacen pulled a chair up beside the bed where he'd attached a monitoring system with a pain-relief drip to her arm. "Do you… do you remember what happened last night?"

Her eyes closed and she leaned her head back against the wall; for a moment, Jacen thought that she had fallen asleep. "Not very well," she admitted after a minute, but her voice was distant, disinterested, despondent… "I… I remember waking up and… Zekk telling me that he was supposed to kill me, I think…"

"Yes, Brakiss ordered him to, I guess."

"He… I hurt so much, but he wouldn't leave me alone until I got up and…" she went pink and didn't finish.

Jacen frowned. "Do you remember anything else?"

She shrugged noncommittally. "It's foggy."

"You were under a stim-shot and a pain-reliever," Jacen explained slowly. "They mixed oddly and made you a little… out of it." She stared at him, confusion creeping across her face. "Jaina, Zekk got us out." Her eyes darkened at the mention of the other's name. "When Brakiss ordered him to kill you, he sort of… snapped. He got us and Lowie, and he opened this shuttle and keyed in the startup codes so we could get away before they realized what had happened."

"And… is Zekk…?"

Jacen understood. "You insisted that he come with us," he explained slowly, quietly. "You said… that if we let him stay to be killed by Brakiss, that we're as bad as they are. You wouldn't let us take off until he agreed to come along to Yavin and let Uncle Luke deal with him."

"I thought I sensed his presence," she muttered.

"It's probably muted; I made him put on one of those pulse cuffs." He watched as her eyes drifted over her left wrist, staring at the spot where the cuff had been secured on her own arm for some two weeks. "We're still more than a day away from Yavin, but I think Uncle Luke knows that we're alright, and he's heading back there to meet us. And…" he bit his lip, "we'll get you taken care of."

Her gaze fell to where her hands were folded in her lap and she twitched almost unnoticeably. "I'd like to see Zekk," she finally said, voice so soft that Jacen had to lean forward to catch her words.

"I… would prefer that you didn't," Jacen confessed apologetically. "Not until we get you back to Yavin and get you some proper attention." When she said nothing, displayed no reaction, he sighed. "I can ask him," he relented. "But I'm not sure he's willing to see you. He's… pretty horrified at what he's done."

Nodding dumbly, Jaina sidled down the bed and curled up on one side- facing away from Jacen. "Just ask him, please," she said.

X-X-X-X

Steeling himself, forcing himself to keep a cool head, Jacen tapped on the cool, durasteel door before palming the release pad and stepping back while it slid open. Inside, the lone occupant sat crossed-legged on one of the lower bunks, leaning back against the wall, looking generally miserable.

Good.

"We need to talk," Jacen announced to the older boy, whose eyes widened fractionally before contracting in nervousness and looking down.

"Yeah," Zekk muttered.

Jacen sat on the bunk opposite the room from Zekk and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, staring at the one he had once known so well, had considered a dear friend. "We still have about a full day before we're arriving in-system," he stalled with a sudden anxiety. Zekk just stared, and Jacen knew that he wasn't foolish enough to believe that he had simply come to give him a travel update. "Uncle Luke knows that we've escaped," he continued stiffly, "so he'll be heading back to Yavin, though I don't know if we'll get there ahead of him or not…"

"Jacen, what do you want?"

His eyes hardened at Zekk's weary tone, and he studied the fallen youth for a minute. "Jaina wanted me to tell you that she'd like to see you," Zekk flinched and said nothing. "But before I even consider letting you back within ten meters of her, I want to know everything."

"I think you already know as much as you really want to."

"Zekk…"

"I hurt her, Jacen; I beat her, hit her, kicked her…"

"You raped her."

"Yes."

Three slow beats passed while Jacen clenched a fist. "Why?"

Zekk looked away and closed his eyes. "Physical pain wasn't working. Brakiss needed you to give in to your anger."

For a long time, Jacen just stared at him, horrified. "_Me_?" he demanded.

"Jaina was deemed… expendable… in the effort to turn you." He sighed bitterly and forced himself to meet the brown-eyed glare. "He always planned that she would die, and she played herself perfectly into his hands when she offered her own suffering in your place."

"And into your hands," Jacen pointed out sharply. Zekk shrugged glumly, head bowed, and Jacen fought back angry, bitter tears. "You'll have to tell all of this- and much more- to Uncle Luke," he warned. "He'll want to understand just how warped by Brakiss you became, before he decides if you can stay at the academy…"

"I couldn't stay even if he offered it, Jacen- surely you know that?" He paused. "Just as I can't bear to face Jaina, not now, not so soon…"

The younger teen stared at him for a minute or two, keenly calculating. "I told her you wouldn't," he finally acknowledged. "But you won't be able to run from this, Zekk; remember that."

For a long time, before Jacen could bear to press the interrogation any further, the two just sat and stared at one another across the room.

X-X-X-X

Jacen was sitting in the cockpit alone, mulling over his thoughts, drifting through them in a haze as he vaguely watched the hyperdrive timer count down the twenty hours that remained of the flight. Maybe Zekk had been right, maybe he hadn't really wanted to know everything- not yet anyway. He found himself continually battling against the wave of anger he felt towards their former friend, a stronger wave of hatred towards Brakiss and Tamith Kai for encouraging, facilitating the transformation of that friend.

He supposed it would be remarkably ironic if they finally succeeded at getting him to embrace the dark side _after_ he escaped the Shadow Academy.

Lowie was angry too, and with the wookiee temper to boot; but it wasn't as personal for him, his anger wasn't as stinging. He was first and foremost concerned about Jaina- a potent reminder to Jacen that he needed to get himself together, she was _his_ sister- and right now, Lowie was paying her a visit in the med bay.

As Jacen sat back to focus and relax though, Lowie let out a loud, alarmed growl of which Jacen understood just enough to know that his presence was required aft. He stood and bounded to the rear of the ship, dashing into the med bay.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

There were no obvious signs of alarm; Jaina was propped upright in the bed, looking away, Lowie was sitting at her side, peering intently at her. But as Jacen reached out and felt for his sister, he realized that something was definitely wrong. She was still radiating coldness, and now an edge of darkness was threatening to overtake that, laced with a numbing pain that forced Jacen back out of her mind involuntarily.

"Jaina?" he asked. "Sis, look at me… Jaina, what's wrong, what hurts?"

She didn't move, and he rushed around the bed to see her face… tears were pouring from her eyes, but her expression remained curiously blank as she vaguely seemed to note his presence, and dismiss it again almost immediately.

"Jaina, come on," he took her hand in his. "Tell me what's the matter, _please_."

Her mouth opened slightly, and he held his breath…

"I just… _hurt_," she murmured, voice frail and confused. And then the darkness won, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she slumped sideways; Jacen barely caught her amidst his own confusion, worry, and fear.

"Wha-" he cried, looking anxiously over at the wookiee who seemed just as distressed as he felt. "Jaina!" She remained unmoving, and he lowered her down to lie back on the bed before attempting once more to plunge into her mind.

It was excruciating, and he was forced to pull away within seconds. Letting out a strangled sob, he stood and stormed away, ignoring an inquisitive bark from Lowie. He slapped open the med bay door and turned- coming to a fast halt when the very person for whom he was searching was coming up the corridor, unsurely.

"I thought I felt…" Zekk began hesitantly.

Jacen didn't let him finish. He just hauled off and punched him clean in the face, ignoring the pain in his own hand, and watching the blood run from Zekk's nose with a detached satisfaction. "What the _hell_ have you done to her?" he demanded brokenly before sliding to the floor and dropping his head into his arms, gasping heaving sobs.

**A/N**: Hope you all are enjoying. ;-) Reviews are welcome!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** _Elle_- you're totally right, of course… except for the part about Luke being a responsible educator. It'll come up in this chapter, but… Kyp Durron, anyone? I mean, killing 25 million+ people (and nearly killing Luke besides) is probably worse… but he was suddenly repentant, so everything was okay once he passed his little test and destroyed the _Sun Crusher_? (having said that, Kyp is probably my favorite post-movies character after Jaina, so yeah…)

Anyway, without giving too much away, no, Zekk will not be murdered by Han, nor will he go to jail, so I'm sorry if I've lost you for the rest of the story. :P But rest assured, chapters 9-11 will beat the redemption issue over the head… sort of. Based on your review though, I'm going to go ahead and predict that you will _not_ particularly care for the remainder of the story (which is 12 chapters + epilogue, fyi)… but I guess that's my challenge, isn't it? ;-)

And as for being 'brave' to go so dark… yeah, I actually debated for several days after I finished it on whether or not to post it. Thus, the very straightforward warning at the beginning, haha.

**Part VII**

"I sense that something has… gone wrong for my friends, Master Skywalker."

Luke glanced down at the stoic, Dathomiri-Hapan girl and found her attention fixed up at the sky, where they anticipated the sleek shuttle-craft to be descending soon. "Yes," he murmured, "I have been sensing a certain amount of distress from Jacen and Jaina for some time; and now I'm beginning to pick up on it from Lowie as well."

"Strange," Tenel Ka said evenly. "I have only felt Jacen's and Lowbacca's uneasiness."

The Jedi Master nodded resignedly. "I'm afraid that what I sense from Jaina is more… inward. I think she's…" he wanted to say _in a healing trance_, but that didn't really feel right, "drawing in on herself."

The two of them had arrived with Kyle Katarn only an hour or so prior; they had felt Jacen's entreaties to return to Yavin while mid-jump between Kashyyyk- where this Shadow Academy had just completed staging a raid for which Katarn had luckily been present- and Dathomir, where the next line of investigation seemed to be pointing them. In fact, Luke had been most hopeful of gaining access to the Shadow Academy, using Tenel Ka's Dathomiri roots to locate the Nightsisters who had apparently been present during the Kashyyyk raid. Once they had discussed it and been convinced that the missing trio had escaped, they dropped out of hyperspace at a safe point and re-calculated to return to Yavin- conveniently located between Kashyyyk and Dathomir, and therefore, a fast jump for them.

Han, Leia, and Chewbacca, unfortunately, would not arrive for another day or two, coming all the way from Coruscant.

"I sense a fourth presence aboard the shuttle," Tenel Ka continued after a moment. Luke turned to her in surprise, but then Master Katarn approached and voiced his agreement.

"I did as well," he peered up and they could see the glint of the craft reflecting in the bright sunlight.

Luke frowned, reaching up… and felt the presence, but it was subdued and unfamiliar and… cold.

"It is… familiar to me, Masters. Though I am unable to determine the identity."

"Familiar?" Katarn looked at her, skeptical. "Strange- I thought I recognized it too." Now Luke was very confused, wondering what being unfamiliar to him would be acquainted with both Tenel Ka and Kyle Katarn. "Master Skywalker, have we considered the possibility that this may be a trap of sorts?"

He had, actually, but he shrugged. "Yes. But Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie are certainly aboard that craft either way, and I don't sense any sort of warning from them…"

"Just… disquiet."

"Fact."

The trio watched in mildly disturbed silence while the shuttle made its final descent to the landing pad in the clearing nearest the temple. It was a sleek little thing, of obviously new and state-of-the-art design, and Luke allowed himself a moment to be surprised and impressed that they managed to make away with such a vessel. As it settled down in the clearing, Luke, Tenel Ka, and Katarn strode forward, hands shielding their faces from the dust still being kicked up from the repulsorjets.

When the ramp descended and no one immediately appeared, Luke led the way up into the ship, the other two flanking him from behind. He made to turn to go to the rear of the ship, where he sensed Jacen and Jaina, when a lone figure emerged from the cockpit, causing him to stop in surprise.

He stared; Tenel Ka started forward; Katarn drew his lightsaber and put a restraining hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Friend Zekk!" she exclaimed in a more inflective tone than Luke could ever recall her using.

He started in surprise. "Zekk?" he asked, peering at the dark-haired, green-eyed teen who he'd heard much about but never met. "Han and Leia will be glad to hear you're alright, they were so worried after the raid on Coruscant that you'd been captured… they spent weeks looking for you."

The boy in question looked down, a shadow crossing over his face. Luke frowned in consternation, taking in Tenel Ka's confusion at his behavior, Katarn's immediate suspicion… and then was distracted when the sound of approaching footsteps drew his attention.

"Uncle Luke," Jacen said in relief, tinged with worry. "Tenel Ka, Master Katarn… it's a relief to see you all again, but I'm afraid we have more pressing matters at hand than pleasantries…" Luke peered down the short corridor and saw Lowie emerge with a large black bundle in his arms. It wasn't until Katarn started forward, biting back an exclamation, that his mind registered that it was Jaina that he carried. Katarn eased her from the young wookiee's arms. "She needs the med center right away," Jacen said quickly. "She slipped into unconsciousness yesterday and we haven't been able to pull her out of it."

Luke quickly approached the concerned Master and his limp niece, touching a hand to her face and reaching out for her… and quickly cringing against the dark turmoil raging inside her mind. "Go," he ordered Katarn. "We'll follow shortly." The Jedi Master obeyed, taking even but long strides across the landing field before disappearing through the small opening that tunneled into the lowest levels of the temple.

As they descended the shuttle ramp, Luke took in as much as he could; first, that it was Zekk who smoothly operated the ramp once they were down; second, that Lowie, relieved of his burden, remained within arm's length and wary of the other boy; third, that beneath Jacen's impatience to continue on to the med center to be with Jaina lay a cold, barely suppressed anger that Luke had _never_ sensed in his nephew before; fourth, that Zekk glanced about uncomfortably, hands unconsciously fiddling with something attached around his right wrist.

"What's this?" Luke asked quietly, reaching out for Zekk's arm.

"Don't," Jacen snapped, and Luke looked at him in surprise; Jacen looked mildly chagrined. "I'm sorry, Uncle… but there will be time for explanations later, I need to be with my sister, and Zekk needs to come to the med center with me."

"Oh?" Luke turned again and eyed the uncomfortable boy in surprise and concern. "Are you injured?"

Lowie let out a low growl in the back of his throat and Jacen laughed derisively. "No, unless I broke his nose."

"Then why…?"

"Because with Jaina unconscious, Zekk is the only one in a position to tell the healers _exactly_ what her assorted injuries are."

"I… see. And that would be because…?"

"Because I inflicted them."

Luke stared at the dark-haired boy sadly, lips pursed. His gaze drifted once more to the device around Zekk's wrist, and he reached out, trying to get a sense of what it was… and then he understood, and he kept his surprise at bay that Zekk had Jedi-potential and the twins hadn't realized, in light of his concern for Jaina and his sad resignation of what Jacen was saying. "Not captured then?" he asked softly. "Recruited?"

Zekk looked at the ground a moment before meeting the Jedi Master's gaze determinedly. "If they can offer you enough- then they're really one and the same, aren't they?"

Luke fought from recoiling against the swell of dark emotions rising in the young man, and instead gestured them all forward. "Come, then. We'll discuss this later."

X-X-X-X

He led Jacen out of the ward half an hour later, an arm around his shoulders, leaving Zekk behind to talk with the healers- under the supervision of Kyle Katarn, whose automatic suspicion of Zekk was beginning to make a little more sense.

"Zekk took part in the raid on Kashyyyk, didn't he?" Luke queried his nephew quietly as he steered him towards a small, quiet meditation room where they could talk alone while they awaited an analysis of Jaina's condition.

Jacen sighed heavily. "He led it, I think he said on the way here."

"Master Katarn was there, I think he recognized Zekk." His nephew nodded in understanding but remained silent as they entered the room and Luke closed the door behind them. "Jacen," he peered closely into the boy's eyes, "I sense a lot of anger in you right now."

Brown eyes met blue, and Luke read a whole plethora of painful emotions swirling in them. "I know," Jacen finally muttered. "I've been trying to fight it… for Jaina, to prove to Brakiss that he was wrong, that I couldn't be turned…" his breath shuddered violently. "But I just… I told Zekk what would happen, and he wouldn't listen."

"What do you mean?" Luke frowned.

"It's… complicated. It was obvious early on that Brakiss was manipulating Zekk, using our friendship to cull his resentment towards us, towards the Jedi. And I think Brakiss thought that using Zekk to hurt Jaina would hurt her more than… what they'd already tried to do," he mumbled uncomfortably.

Taking a deep breath, forcing himself to remain cool and calm, Luke asked, "Did it?"

Jacen hesitated. "Yes," he finally decided. "She withdrew the first time, forced herself to break our connection, pulled herself into a trance… but it didn't really work, because…" he winced, "I think because Zekk's heart wasn't really in it. He _thought_ he was mad at her, thought he wanted her to suffer… but I think he's starting to understand just how manipulated he was by Brakiss, and that's tearing him apart more inside than he already was."

"How did he come to realize that?"

Now looking distinctly uncomfortable, Jacen turned away, staring at the wall. "They came back for us, put those impulse cuffs on us, and when Zekk started to use Force-lightning on me, Jaina demanded that they leave me alone, that… if they'd remove my cuff, she'd willingly submit to Zekk's torture in my place. Brakiss was… delighted, and he separated us, and sent Jaina off, forced her to stay in Zekk's quarters across the ship where he could get at her whenever he wanted. Zekk… claims that it wasn't his idea, that he had never wanted it to happen."

"You don't believe him?"

"Uncle Luke, I'm so furious with Zekk, I don't know what to believe of him anymore."

Luke sighed but nodded, relieved that, if nothing else, Jacen could at least see his own ire, and was consciously attempting to suppress it. "So he took her away… what happened?"

"I told Zekk that he was being played, that the whole ploy was to make him irrevocably evil, that Brakiss would push and push until he'd done as much damage as Jaina could handle- and that he would then order him to kill her. He laughed at me, told me that he would do as he pleased with or without Brakiss' say-so… and at first, it seemed like maybe I was wrong. Over the next…" he hesitated. "Week or two? Ten days maybe? He seemed to be hurting her less, but he was becoming… cruel and manipulative… in other ways, less obvious ways. He would put her on edge, make her uncomfortable by… making her sleep in his bed, that sort of thing, but he never really touched her…"

"He lulled her into a false sense of security?" Luke guessed, stomach clenching uneasily, beginning to see where this was leading.

Jacen frowned, thoughtful. "From what Zekk says- which isn't much, he's very confused… I'm not sure that he understood what Brakiss wanted of him. But then, Brakiss finally played his trump card, told Zekk that he had failed, that he was giving up on turning us to the dark side…"

"And from the person who gave Zekk everything, it was an unbearable criticism," Luke finished quietly.

Dejectedly, trying to force the memory of that painful night from his mind, Jacen nodded. "He vowed to break her and…" he hesitated. "I think had he tried to do so through brute force, she would have been alright. Hurt, afraid, damaged, yes, but I don't think she would have just retreated into herself like this."

"What did he do then?" Luke frowned.

"I… wasn't able to talk to her about it, but according to Zekk… he gave her a very simple choice- that he would rape her and hurt her when she resisted him; or that she could cooperate and he would try _not_ to hurt her, and he would let her take off the bracelet, give her full access to the Force again."

Luke leaned heavily back against the wall and exhaled sharply. "I take it this did… not happen as planned?"

"He took off her bracelet and, when he could fully feel her again in the Force, it… I think it hurt him, to see how repulsive he had become to her, and he lashed out at her, put the cuff back on, beat her, raped her… and she feels utterly betrayed, because he let her think she had a choice in it, and then he reneged on his promise anyway. He hurt her out of his own self-hatred, and broke her in doing so, and then Brakiss had what he wanted- and he ordered Zekk to kill her."

"Just like you told him he would."

"Yes," Jacen muttered bitterly. "And he snapped, he realized what he had become, what Brakiss had tricked him into, and he determined to sneak us off the ship and sacrifice himself to Brakiss' punishment and, undoubtedly, his own death as his master's hands." Luke raised an inquisitive brow. "Jaina, uh… wouldn't leave him behind. She was really confused and loopy, he'd given her a stim-shot and some sort of pain-reliever just to get her to get up and go with him… and she demanded that it would be un-Jedi-like to just leave him."

Luke shot him a look. "Despite everything… she was probably right."

"I know," Jacen huffed. "That doesn't make it any more… palatable."

"No," Luke concurred. "But unfortunately, that is our lot in life. I just… don't relish the thought of explaining any of this to your parents. They will certainly have a harder time viewing Zekk's crimes as machinations of Brakiss as much as his own choices, which… from what you've said here… I'm beginning to think is the truth of the matter."

"You'd forgive him, just like that?" Jacen demanded.

Luke shook his head. "No," he said softly. "But when dealing with the dark side, it is essential to understand the source of someone's fall. Zekk listened to the manipulations of one man, and hurt a dear friend grievously; when you were young, Kyp Durron listened to the voice of an ancient Sith lord, and killed millions. Can I give Kyp a second chance, and not Zekk? Does the wellbeing of my niece come before the millions of Imperial soldiers and citizens who died when Kyp destroyed the Carida system?"

"I guess not," Jacen muttered. "But I don't know that he wants a second chance. He seemed pretty content to stay and let Brakiss kill him, until Jaina refused to go anywhere without him."

"Zekk will have to come to terms with his own actions first, before we can judge him for them. But let's not worry about that now…" he looked up moments before the door opened, and Kyle Katarn came through, looking slightly apologetic. "Kyle?" Luke asked.

The younger Master took a deep breath. "Master Skywalker, Jacen… I don't really know how to put this… but there's nothing wrong with Jaina."

Jacen stood quickly, eyes flashing. "What do you mean, nothing wrong? She's hurt and…" Luke held up a hand, urging him to be quiet and listen to Katarn.

"My apologies," he said ruefully. "That's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say… her wounds, while they are many and serious, are not causing her inability to wake up. Physically, she's recovering from…" a shadow passed over his face, "a wide range of injuries just fine, according to the healers."

Luke stood as well, nodding grimly and making for the door. "I was afraid of that, when I tried to get a sense of her earlier… it's her emotional trauma that's trapping her in her own mind, I think. She's trying to protect herself from any more, and she's closed herself off to do so."

"But…" Jacen felt hot tears sting his eyes, "she was awake, she was fine…"

Luke shook his head sadly. "Perhaps the horror took longer to fully set in. Perhaps something happened on the flight here…?"

"No," Jacen said, "she was in the med bay… quiet, but awake after she slept off the drugs that Zekk gave her. And then a few hours later, she just… passed out, just told me that she _hurt_, and the next thing, she was unconscious."

Looks were exchanged around the room before Luke sighed, stepping out into the hallway. "Jacen, you and Lowie should get some rest, and…" he trailed away, looking around. "Kyle, where's Zekk?"

A fast, dark look covered the younger man's features before he suppressed it. "I made him stay to get his own injuries tended."

"Injuries?" Jacen asked, and Luke looked puzzled.

"He came off… slightly worse for wear, after our encounter on Kashyyyk," Katarn admitted. "It's been more than a week, but he hadn't tended them too consistently."

"Alright," Luke put a hand to his head. "Okay. I'm going to see Jaina and talk to the healers; Jacen, your parents should be arriving tomorrow, early, hopefully we'll have more to tell them by then. And Kyle, I'll worry about Zekk from now on… I think he and I are going to have a _lot _to talk about."

X-X-X-X

Luke ran a weary hand over his face the next morning as he stood with a somber and silent Jacen and a tense Lowbacca, waiting for the _Millennium Falcon_ to touch down.

There had been no change whatsoever in Jaina's condition, and Luke feared for his niece, at a loss for further options to help ease her emotional pain when she wouldn't let any of them past the walls she had constructed around her mind. He hoped that her parents' presence, or that of her younger brother, would accomplish something that Luke's and Jacen's had not, but he sensed his hope was ill-founded; quite simply, she did not want to be touched.

But what would it take for her to recover enough to wake up on her own?

When the ramp lowered, Han was visible before it even fully touched the ground, Leia stepping close to his side. Chewie and Anakin weren't far behind, and the four descended together, eyes alighting on Jacen and Lowie, and Luke could sense their confusion and worry at Jaina's absence. He was sure that Leia and Anakin would have sensed _something _was wrong by now, but he hadn't wanted to get into it over the comm and so said nothing when they arrived in system, just telling them that he would be waiting for them when they landed.

"Jacen," Leia rushed forward and drew her older son- already much taller than she was- into a fierce hug. Chewie growled softly and clasped his nephew's shoulder, barking soft questions and Lowie responding in kind. Han wasted no time and went right to Luke.

"Where's Jaina?"

Anakin murmured softly beside him, bright blue eyes wide. "She's… hiding…"

Han whirled on his younger son before registering his glassy-eyed look as Anakin felt for Jaina in the Force. "Kid?" he turned shakily back to Luke before drawing Jacen into a quick hug.

Before he replied, Luke nodded quickly towards Jacen and Lowie. Jacen draped an arm around his younger brother and said, "Come on- we're going to go see Jaina." Lowie growled something soft and inquiring towards Chewie and, after sending a confused look back at Han and Leia, the older wookiee followed his nephew.

"Luke…" Leia was pale now as she watched the other four retreat. "What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "I want to talk to the two of you- alone- for a few minutes before we go and see Jaina. She's in the med center."

Han sucked in a breath. "Why?" he asked quickly.

"First," Luke held up a hand, "let me say, for whatever it's worth, that physically, she's alright. She's hurt and recovering, but her injuries are healing properly."

"Physically," Leia repeated carefully. "Luke… what did Anakin mean, that 'she's hiding'?"

Luke stopped walking and turned to face his sister and brother-in-law, meeting their eyes in turn. "Han, Leia… while they were en route to Yavin, Jaina dropped into a deep unconsciousness, and she's shielding her mind from all outside factors, as far as we've been able to ascertain. She's suffered some heavy emotional trauma, and this is her way of dealing with it, but… well, she won't wake up."

Silence greeted him, and they stared at him, mouthing wordlessly for a minute. "Emotional trauma?" Han winced. "Luke, what the hell did they do to my baby girl?"

"This will be… difficult to hear," he warned them, cringing inwardly as their own dismay heightened. "But, I talked it over with Jacen, and we agree that it's best if you were made aware of… all of the circumstances now, that you be fully prepared when you go and see her." They just nodded mutely, eyes wide and worried. "Han, Leia… I wonder if you ever realized that Zekk had Force-potential?"

They blinked once or twice each before looking at each other, confused. "Zekk? No. Why?"

"Did they capture him too, after all?" Han asked grimly.

"Yes," Luke said softly. "And Brakiss discovered that Zekk has an extraordinary awareness of the Force; with this knowledge, he was able to manipulate him into serving the Shadow Academy."

Leia frowned. "Zekk? He's so… light-hearted…"

"He rose to the position of their 'Darkest Knight' by winning a duel against another student- a duel to the death, Leia," Luke said somberly. "Brakiss stamped all of his good nature out pretty quickly, and he was able to do it by offering Zekk more than he's had since he was a small boy- power, prestige, belonging…"

Han held up a hand. "That's… rough and all," he said slowly. "But I'm lost as to the relevance of telling me what exactly is wrong with my little girl."

"Getting there," Luke sighed wearily, leading them into a small chamber and sealing the door for privacy. "When Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie were captured, they were separated; the Nightsister, Tamith Kai, took Lowie as her project, feeling that his temper would enable him to embrace the dark side. Brakiss put his energy into converting Jacen and Jaina through… a variety of measures, according to Jacen. He tried hurting them, separating them, pitting them against each other in duels, sensory torture… nothing worked. They remained strong and defiant, and bolstered one another's strengths through their bond and their love, not through anger.

"So Brakiss tried a new approach. By now, apparently unbeknownst to the twins, he had trained Zekk into a powerful asset… and he began to foment a sense of resentment in Zekk, at the unfairness of his life, convinced him that Jacen and Jaina had been mocking him for years, had purposefully hidden the truth of his Jedi-potential… and he encouraged Zekk to direct that resentment… towards Jaina."

The other two stared in confusion, Leia absently reaching for Han's hand. He took it and leaned forward. "That's ridiculous," he muttered. "Zekk and Jaina… hell, when she's old enough to realize that boys are more than just potential co-pilots, they'll probably start dating…" he trailed away as Luke winced. "Alright, Luke, spit it out then… what happened?"

"It seems that Brakiss decided somewhere along the line that Jacen would be the more valuable convert of the two of them," Han scowled, "and… craftily… he manipulated Jaina and Zekk in such a way that left her completely under his power for a couple of weeks, cut off from using the Force, in an effort to sway Jacen."

"How could he manipulate that out of Jaina?" Leia asked, face turning slightly red in anger.

"By having Zekk hurt Jacen in front of her. She foolishly- but nobly, I suppose- offered herself in his place, and Brakiss twisted this offer to suit his own ends, and took her away from the cell they'd been sharing to… be quartered with Zekk."

The blood seemed to leave Han's face in a hurry. "Luke, kid… _please_ don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me…"

Luke met his eyes steadily. "Either I can summarize for you the extent of what passed between the two of them for the duration of the time she spent with him… or you can read the detailed report compiled by myself and the healers from the various… accounts given."

Leia looked away, eyes suddenly wet, but Han remained wild-eyed, as though trying to deny the truth of what Luke was inferring. "But… if Jaina's unconscious," he stammered, "then you really don't know how accurate Jacen's and Lowie's deductions were…"

"Han," Luke spoke firmly, "there's no question; the healers' report came directly from Zekk and… it matches the condition of Jaina's physical wounds… as well as what he's told me."

His words took a minute to sink in, and when they did, Han stood in angered alarm. "From _Zekk_? He's here?"

"He freed them."

"But not until _after_-" Han began hotly, until Leia took his hand again and he calmed visibly, sitting back down and running a hand through his hair distractedly.

"Luke," Leia's tone was soft and hesitant. "Just to be sure that we're on the same page here… you're saying that Jaina's… trauma… is because Zekk raped her?"

His tone was soft. "I am, but that's not really the full extent…"

"There's _more_?" Han made to stand again, restrained only by Leia's firm grasp.

Luke hesitated, but decided they needed to hear it. "From what Jacen thinks- Zekk is still a little paralyzed on the subject by his own horror- she wouldn't have reacted so severely to a straightforward, violent attack, Zekk had already beat her, used Force-lightning on her… but after spending so much time with her, Zekk seemed to grow confused, and was stuck between his own residual feelings of friendship for her, Brakiss' desire to see her broken and used to turn Jacen and… I believe… his growing uneasiness of what Brakiss was turning him into. He didn't _want_ to hurt her anymore, per say, and he contrived her into choosing the manner in which the… encounter… would proceed, trying to eliminate his own guilty conscience over it.

"One of the terms for her cooperation was that he would remove the device from her that kept her closed away from the Force- a small wristband that emits electrical currents," he explained, "preventing the mind from concentrating long enough to tap into its Force powers. Faced with an unpleasant alternative, she chose cooperation and the returned usage of the Force, but… and here, it's difficult to say what truly happened in Zekk's mind… he couldn't bear to feel her in the Force because, while it reminded him that he still did care for her, it also showed him just how far he'd gone down his path, because he could really read the horror, the revulsion she felt for him… and he couldn't stand it."

"Oh, Luke," Leia closed her eyes, tears leaking through the corners.

He sighed. "I think you can guess what happened… he reneged on their 'agreement,' put her back in the cuff, and… here, I suspect Brakiss' influence and control had a greater part to play than Zekk suspects, or is willing to admit… he lashed out at her in his anger, hurt her terribly physically and emotionally, hurt _himself_ almost as much… and then snapped the next morning when Brakiss told him to kill her."

Han sucked in a breath and Leia paled a little more.

"So he snuck the three of them to the hangar in the middle of the night, put them on a shuttle, and resigned himself to a painful death at Brakiss' hands, but… now here, Jacen and Lowie both say that Jaina was completely out of it on the meds Zekk gave her just to get her to wake up and go with him, but I think they're wrong, that Jaina was channeling the Force more readily than the rest of them… but she refused to leave him behind."

Han recoiled. "Why?"

Luke shrugged. "For all of his failings, he _had _just saved their lives- hers, anyway. And I don't think she wanted to feel like Zekk's death was on their shoulders, and when Jacen and Lowie come to terms better with their own anger over everything that's happened, I think they'll feel the same way. For now though, Zekk is confined to quarters and restricted by one of those impulse-emitters, so you needn't worry about running into him."

"Good," Han bit, "because if I do, I'll be hard-pressed not to wrap my hands around his skinny little neck."


	8. Chapter 8

**Part VIII**

Jacen stared glumly at the door to the bacta chamber, waiting for the healers and med droids to pull Jaina from the tank and get her presentable and back in bed. Perhaps it was pointless, but he was determined to say goodnight to her, to try- probably in vain- for the tenth time to connect with her again, to lend _any_ small amount of comfort, even if it wouldn't help her wake…

A somber presence approached, and he turned in surprise to face Tenel Ka, who had largely avoided the medical ward in order to give the Solos privacy. "Good evening, Jacen," the solemn warrior-girl greeted.

"Oh- hey," he murmured distractedly. "Sorry that we haven't had time to catch up yet, but…" he trailed away, eyes wide, looking like a lost little kid- which, in some ways, he was at the moment.

"Your apology is unnecessary," she chastised evenly. "Your concern for your sister _should_ take precedence." She paused. "How is Jaina?"

He shrugged. "No change."

"I am… deeply grieved to hear it."

Jacen turned and looked at his friend. To anyone else, she would have sounded disinterested, insincere even… but Jacen knew her well enough by now to read the subtle nuances in her tone, to see the sad flicker in her eyes, even without the Force to tell him that she was remarkably distraught by the situation. "She'll be okay."

"Fact."

"She _has_ to be… or else they've won."

Tenel Ka met his eyes and held his gaze evenly. "What about _you_, friend Jacen? Are you okay?" Jacen hesitated. "Don't let your sister's wellbeing hinder your own recovery from your captivity."

Bitter, Jacen laughed humorlessly. "I'm not the one they hurt."

"Some wounds are not for the naked eye to see- and those can run much deeper, as is the case for your sister. Have a care, my friend- they have other ways of winning."

He just blinked owlishly at her for a minute before flushing and looking down. "You've been talking to Uncle Luke."

"No, Jacen; but your emotions are easily read, just beneath the surface. And you can't keep pushing away your anger for Jaina's sake alone; you need to do so for yourself, first and foremost. If you tie your emotions to the wellbeing of another, even one as close as your twin, then you allow others to take advantage of it, to exploit it."

"That's exactly what Brakiss was trying to do," Jacen admitted tonelessly. "I'm trying," he pleaded with her.

A flicker of disappointment flashed through her face. "There _is_ no try, my friend."

X-X-X-X

Cilghal arrived two days later, called away from her duties as senator as a last resort, though Luke had highly suspected when he placed the call that it would be a waste of her time and skills to come out. She was a healer, not a miracle worker, and if the combined efforts of Luke, Leia, Jacen, and Anakin could not reach his niece, he had little expectations that someone the girl barely knew would succeed where they had failed.

Her family sat with bated breath while Cilghal, bracing herself in the Force after Luke's urging about the depths of Jaina's inner darkness, closed her large, bulbous eyes and placed a flipper-like hand against Jaina's forehead. Her expressions were difficult to read, as was usual for a human studying a mon calamari face, but Luke noticed her stiffen and cringe slightly before hardening her resolve and renewing her insistent probing of the stricken girl's mind.

It felt like hours that they sat there, anxiously peering at Jaina and Cilghal in turn, while the healer's eyes twitched beneath translucent lids and Jaina… remained completely unmoved. If it hadn't been for the slow, shallow rise and fall of her chest- and the variety of equipment monitoring her condition and supplying her body with much needed sugars and fluids- than she might have appeared dead. Luke hastily shoved that morbid thought from his mind before any of the others picked up on it.

Finally, eons later- or, as a glance at the chrono confirmed, about forty-five minutes- Cilghal shook and pulled away, slumping backwards into a chair and wearily bringing a glass of water to her mouth. She drank quickly, took a few deep breaths, and then opened her eyes, steadily meeting the gazes of the worried family.

"Anything?" Luke asked.

The Jedi healer twitched her facial muscles in an expression that might have been hesitancy. "I'm… not sure, Master Skywalker. I'm sorry. There is… much darkness in your niece's mind right now." She drew a shuddering breath. "I was barely able to penetrate the outer layer of defenses she's drawn in around herself."

"That's more than we've been able," Jacen put in quickly. Luke nodded his sad agreement.

"I'm still not sure that I accomplished anything though," Cilghal said softly. "I… I think I was able to, briefly, get a grasp on her presence, but…"

"But?" Han demanded, and then looked chastised for snapping at the healer. "Sorry."

She waved off his apology. "Quite simply, Chief Organa Solo, Captain Solo… I'm not who… or what… she's waiting for."

Addressing her as such catapulted Luke back into the realization that his sister was the current chief-of-state, and that she had already spent almost a week isolated from the seat of government. He pushed aside those minor concerns- minor in the current situation, anyway- when Jacen spoke up in confusion, tinged with mild alarm.

"Waiting for? What does that mean? How could she be waiting for something- or someone- when her mind is closing her off involuntarily?"

Cilghal turned a piercing gaze in his direction. "Why should you think that this is involuntary, Jacen?" she asked, peering closely at him before shifting her gaze back to Jaina's prone form.

"I…" Jacen looked around at his family for help, but they seemed just as startled by her question that he was.

"Cilghal," Luke spoke up softly, "Jaina is young, and still has a great deal of training before she could develop the level of mental control you're talking about. This is no basic healing trance."

The healer smacked her lips a couple of times, thinking, round eyes rotating and peering at the various instruments and monitors keeping track of Jaina's condition. "You would know that better than I, Master Skywalker, but… our bodies and minds can do astounding things, when under duress. In an instant of extreme pain, your niece could very well have performed a feat that would not have been plausible in normal circumstances."

Jacen frowned and Luke looked mildly dejected. "I understand, Cilghal," he said softly. "But I'm afraid that the condition in which Jaina fell into this… trance," he stumbled, for lack of a better word, "does not really qualify." He had purposely avoided giving Cilghal any details beyond what they all already knew- that the twins and Lowbacca had been captured by the Shadow Academy, that a prolonged effort had been made to turn them all to the dark side- and that Jaina had returned broken and unconscious. Luke wanted a completely outside perspective on Jaina's mind, one that was not yet tinged with the horror of the full details of what had occurred between her and Zekk. "They were already heading to safety, away from danger, when she succumbed."

The healer rolled her eyes back over the girl. "Ah. I see. And Jaina has never displayed any similar tendencies towards… mental retreat, withdrawing in around herself in times of high-stress…?"

"No," Han said immediately. "Jaina's nothing if not strong-minded and ready for a fight of any kind."

"Actually…" all eyes spun to Jacen, who winced apologetically. "Just once, when she… when _I_ was particularly upset, she somehow severed our personal bond, I think to protect me."

"To protect you?" Leia frowned.

He closed his eyes, willing the memories to not overwhelm him. "She was being hurt by… by Zekk, for the first time, we didn't even know for sure that he'd been captured, we _certainly_ didn't know how much Brakiss had warped him. And while it was happening, Brakiss was goading me about it, and I was getting so _angry_. So she stopped me from feeling it and… I thought she'd been killed, before I realized that I could still sense her distantly, deep down. But when I finally got back to her, she had slipped into some kind of trance, but she woke up the next day and was on the mend."

Cilghal was thoughtful. "A healing trance?"

"No… she said that she thought it was an unconscious reflex, I think."

"And this never happened again."

"No," Jacen was bitter. "After that, she was blocked off from using the Force, though _I_ could help push her into a healing trance when she was sleeping, even distantly. And she had the Force back when… _this_… happened," he answered Cilghal's unspoken question.

"Lending merit to the idea that this was an unconscious reflex as well," Cilghal murmured. "Nevertheless… my instinct is that, even if only partially, she did this with some measure of control over it. That isn't necessarily to say that she'll just wake up one day," she warned heavily. "In fact, I'm inclined to think otherwise. There's something in her aura… beneath the obvious pain and darkness, hidden… but there's something there that feels like she's waiting for someone, or for something to happen, maybe."

Uneasy looks were exchanged. If Jaina was waiting for _someone_, they couldn't imagine who- her entire family was here, had collectively tried to pull her away from her internal prison. And if it was _something_… that was even more befuddling. "Maybe…" Leia spoke hesitantly. "Maybe it's Zekk's presence? Mightn't that make her feel… unsafe?"

Jacen shook his head. "I doubt it; with the pulse cuff on him, she could barely sense him from across the shuttle on the jump here, certainly not enough to cause her to break down like she did at the end there…"

Luke frowned, considering that. "I suppose it _is_ a possibility…" he said slowly. "But, short of getting a hold of some ysalamiri, I don't know that we can just block Jaina's awareness of Zekk completely, and I'm unwilling to let him leave Yavin at the moment. He's severely troubled and depressed, and he'd be a danger to himself and others, I fear."

"We could just kill him…"

"Han!"

He scowled at his wife before sighing heavily. "Yeah, yeah, I know… vengeance is of the dark side, or some rodder…"

"Cilghal," Luke stepped in firmly, putting a quick halt to Han's half-joking idea, "is there anything else you can tell us about what you sensed in Jaina? Anything that might be at all helpful?"

She seemed unsure. "Give me an hour or so to regain my strength, and I'll try to get through to her again. Perhaps Jacen would like to help?" she swiveled her eyes to him questioningly. "His connection to her is, after all, the strongest."

"I can try," Jacen said, swallowing hard, pushing down his fear that his sister would never wake up again.

X-X-X-X

Bolstered by Cilghal's strength and confidence in what she was doing, Jacen found himself having a _slightly_ easier time maintaining a presence in Jaina's mind- but only slightly. He instinctively followed the beacon of Cilghal's calm, steady presence as she again felt her way through Jaina's pain and turmoil, slipping further down in her mind, searching for that soft glow of consciousness that she had buried deep inside herself where it couldn't be touched, couldn't be hurt…

Time was impossible to comprehend, minutes ticked passed uncounted, while Jacen clung to Cilghal's compassion, as she used it to penetrate deeper, but even with it, the stinging sense of betrayal pressed in around him. As they went further though, it changed to something else… sadness, disappointment, abandonment… expectation…

And then, suddenly, he felt her lingering there, her presence pressing against the far corner of her mind, trying to avoid another encounter with the mon calamari Jedi healer. Jacen tried to separate himself slightly from Cilghal, to use his own connection to appeal to her, to get her to pay attention to him, and hopefully they'd be able to communicate again, he could learn how to fix her, how to make her whole again…

Something in the glow of her presence flickered, and Jacen grew excited, sensing a wave of recognition as her attention turned towards him; and the excitement quickly vanished as he found himself trapped, pinned, surrounded by the darkness.

_You're letting Brakiss win_.

He struggled to pull free of her excruciating grip, but she was relentless, determined to hold him there in her shattered mind…

_Look past your own feelings, Jacen, _see_ yourself…do what I asked of you…_

And then he was sitting in the med center again, leaning forward over Jaina's bed, her hand in his… he pulled away, gasping for breath, and saw Cilghal blinking slowly, recovering from the exhausting attempt as she had earlier that night. He glanced around, before remembering that his family had collectively decided that they would allow them privacy for their attempt.

"That was… enlightening," Cilghal murmured.

"Wha-" Jacen gasped. "What happened?"

Her eyes twitched. "She threw you out- and then forced herself deeper to hide from me."

"_Me_?" Jacen gasped. "She threw _me_ out?"

Cilghal frowned- or at least, did the equivalent for a mon cal face. "Could you not feel her emotions there, at the end?"

"I… I did, she spoke to me… or at least, impressed enough of her feelings on me to seem like she was speaking…"

"What did she say?"

Jacen looked away, uncomfortable and suddenly claustrophobic among the whirring machines and sensors which were ensuring his sister's continued physical health. "That _I_ was letting him win- Brakiss," he bit out. "That… I needed to see myself, and do what she wanted me to."

Curiosity radiated from the healer. "What did she want you to do?"

Anxiety welled in Jacen as he plundered quickly through his memory. "I don't know!" he exclaimed. "She… she didn't say _anything_, just that she was hurting…"

Cilghal looked mildly disappointed. "I think we've done all we can for tonight," she said softly. "Get some rest, we'll try again in the morning…"

"Yeah," Jacen muttered, still deeply perturbed. "I think I'll go… meditate for a while. Thanks, Cilghal…" and he wandered out of the room after casting an anxious look at Jaina, whose face remained as still and impassive as before.

Hot tears were forming in his eyes as he slipped into an empty meditation chamber a few minutes later. He had considered returning to his own room, but the plethora of animals- thoughtfully tended by other students in his absence- would be too much of a distraction, and Jacen had a puzzle to solve.

A shame that Anakin was the good one with mysteries.

He settled down on the floor, ignoring the sensation of the cold flagstones through his thin jumpsuit. Cross-legged, he rested his arms against his knees and let his eyes drift closed, reaching out, feeling the Force in the jungle surrounding them, in the temple itself, in his own body… and, stretching out, in his parents and Anakin, quartered somewhere above him, in his uncle, also awake he thought, in Jaina, though he did not linger over her cold presence yet, and… in himself.

_Look past your own feelings, Jacen, see yourself…_

What was _that_ supposed to mean? He focused on his feelings in a detached sort of way, the meditation purging them from his body as he calmed and relaxed, felt the Force touching his cells…

Pervading his emotions of late had been, first and foremost, desperate concern for Jaina; even if he dared try it, he knew he would _never_ be able to look past that, so he moved on. Beneath… fear and frustration, sadness… and tingeing it all, the lingering anger, resentment, bitterness at what Brakiss and Zekk had done to Jaina, at what Tamith Kai had done to Lowie…

With a flash, he remembered his late-night conversation with Tenel Ka, several hours after they had arrived on Yavin.

"_She'll be okay… she has to be… or else they've won."_

"_Have a care, my friend- they have other ways of winning… your emotions are easily read, just beneath the surface. And you can't keep pushing away your anger for Jaina's sake alone; you need to do so for yourself, first and foremost."_

_You're letting Brakiss win…_

Okay, so he was angry; but while his sister was essentially in a coma, how else was he supposed to feel? But even as he thought it, he felt his uncle's reassuring presence brush over him, steadying him, urging him to be calm…

Anger was of the dark side. They all knew that, it was the quintessential warning all up-and-coming Jedi trainees were given. But if he struggled to look past it, as she requested… yes, he could well see that it was doing nothing but making him bitter. His anger did not help Jaina in the slightest, and it only weakened him. But he hardly saw the relevance.

Sighing, he pushed aside the frustrating line of thought and focused on the next part.

_Do what I asked of you…_

Guilt welled up inside of him as he struggled to remember any request she had made that might be relevant, during their captivity or otherwise. All that came immediately to mind was her half-joking instruction for him to find a way to release them from their imprisonment, when he'd woken her up after Brakiss unexpectedly allowed him to see her. But he'd failed her in that, and Zekk had freed them instead, after hurting her so badly and causing this whole mess…

"_Don't be mad. That's what Brakiss wants. He thinks you'll join the Shadow Academy when Zekk kills me."_

He started, but forced himself to remain calm, barely registering the stiffening of cold and cramped muscles. It wasn't a request, per say, and she'd been half out of her mind under the influence of the medication Zekk had pumped into her system, but…

Zekk.

_Look past your own feelings, see yourself…_

_Don't be mad… _

Zekk.

"_I'd like to see Zekk… Just ask him, please._"

Swearing, Jacen fully startled himself out of his meditative trance, and in a heartbeat, understood everything Jaina was trying to tell him.

His anger was clouding his judgment- and in it, he had completely refused the last thing she _had_ asked of him before slipping into unconsciousness, out of protectiveness, bitterness… he should have taken her request more seriously, and instead, had accepted Zekk's cowardly refusal to face her, when he should have pushed, should have given her the chance to face him, to come to terms with him…

He had denied that- with Zekk's help- and now he needed to fix it.

Banishing the hovering cloud of fear and doubt, of anger and distrust, Jacen quickly strode from the room and ascended three levels to where he knew Zekk's quarters were. When he got there, he glanced around, and noted that a lock on the door was the only security measure, given Zekk's Force-hindering bracelet. Kyle Katarn was assigned the next room over though, presumably where he would be alert to any signs of trouble.

Shrugging off that piece of information, Jacen pressed a hand to Zekk's door and heard the latch disengage. Without bothering to knock or in any other way announce his presence, he slipped inside- and was unsurprised to find the resident in question to be awake already, sitting at a small desk in the corner, staring at the wall. He turned though, as Jacen stepped through, and rose a curious brow, though his face remained otherwise blank and impassive.

"Come with me," Jacen told him quickly, a twisted parody of their reverse-roled escape from the Shadow Academy. Reading the seriousness in Jacen's eyes- and displaying a flicker of consternation in his own- Zekk stood without a word and met Jacen at the door. Jacen reached for his wrist and Zekk pulled away reflexively, then started in surprise when the cuff dropped away, clanging to the flagstones at their feet.

Offering no explanation, he turned and led the way down the turbolift. As they exited on the level that contained the infirmary, Zekk slowed to a stop and spoke softly, hesitantly… even fearfully. "Jacen?"

"Come on," he reached back for the other's arm and pulled him along after him. "I need your help. _Jaina_ needs your help."

Zekk wrenched his arm from Jacen's grip, stricken. "Is she…?"

"She's still unconscious," Jacen explained quickly, turning the last corner and stopping outside the medical center door. "But she wants to see you."

"How could she want to see me if she's unconscious…?"

Jacen throttled his impatience as he pushed open the door to the darkened ward. "Because she did _before_ she passed out, and I ignored her, and I let you hide from what you did. She deserves the chance to face you, to confront you, and you owe her that much."

Zekk stopped by the partition, feelings of horrid angst radiating from him as he stared at the deathly-looking form in the bed. "I…" he cringed and stammered, "I still don't see… how can I…?"

"You've sought her out in her unconscious mind before, Zekk, I felt you do it the night we escaped." The nervous teen still stood, unsure. "Damn it, Zekk," Jacen bit, "you broke her- you fix her."

Hesitantly, Zekk approached the bed and peered down at the still girl. With a sigh- one of remorse or regret, Jacen thought- he sank down in the chair that he had vacated an hour ago and reached out a hand to rest on Jaina's forearm- to grab her hand would have been much too personal, much too intimate- and he closed his eyes. Jacen could feel the pulsing in the Force as he struggled against the cloud of darkness… and then he was distracted by a new sense, one of mild alarm that was slowly growing…

It wasn't coming from Zekk or Jaina though. He turned and strode back into the corridor, heading off Kyle Katarn as he walked quickly towards the med center.

"Jacen!" the Master exclaimed. "Zekk is gone from his room…" Jacen held up a hand and smiled apologetically.

"That was my doing, I'm sorry, Master. But Zekk has a job he has to do."

Silently, Katarn followed him to the door, and they stepped inside. Katarn seemed startled and briefly alarmed again to see Zekk at Jaina's side, but Jacen held up a hand, urging his patience. "I think he can reach her," he said softly. "I think he's the one she's been waiting for."

And they sat on the far side of the room, watched and sensed as Zekk slipped deeper into his own trance…

And waited.


	9. Chapter 9

**Part IX**

_It was quiet, but not in a horribly oppressive way. Calm, peaceful even. _

_But it was unfamiliar, and unfamiliar things put him on edge, made him wary of what secrets and surprises lay hidden beneath the surface. This place though… it looked more like a playroom, assorted toys and games tucked away in corners, put away neatly on shelves, in boxes. Despite the cleanliness, the room did not have a neglected feeling- it felt well-used. _

_The thought barely crossed his mind before the sound of soft laughter drifted to his ears, and he turned slowly towards a door he hadn't before seen as it opened. Unconcerned, he watched a tall, regal woman step through, two small children clinging to either hand, and twisting around and tagging one another behind her back in some made-up game to which, undoubtedly, only they were aware of the rules._

_Upon entering the room, they dashed forward and began running about on tiny legs, hiding behind furniture, shelves, chasing one another with a complete and utter childhood innocence. Neither they, nor the white-haired woman, paid him any attention._

_One of the children fell- he saw the boy's brown eyes well up in tears before the other crossed back towards him, sitting down beside him on the ground, and wrapping chubby arms around him. He instantly ceased crying and beamed at his sister, so alike him in appearance, especially at that young age… _

"_Even then, we were each other's strength," a low voice murmured by his ear, and he turned in surprise at the newly materialized form, tense green eyes meeting calm brown ones for several seconds before he turned back to the children, playing once more. "We weren't even old enough to understand who we were, _what_ we were… our connection just came naturally."_

"_I never had a sibling," he found himself responding automatically. _

_Quizzical eyes turned to him, but he remained staring steadfastly ahead. "Having a sibling and having a twin… those are two entirely different things. A sibling is a part of you, but a twin… you're one and the same. Their joy is your joy," her eyes drifted over the giggling toddlers, "their pain is your pain…" _

_He bowed his head, but she paid no attention to his discomfort, reaching instead for his hand, and he started as hers fit so lightly in his, barely there, but grasping firmly as she pulled him along behind her effortlessly._

_The concepts of time and space ceased to make sense as they half-walked, half-drifted through a catacomb of tunnels; oddly, this didn't bother him as he allowed her to lead him onward, until they reached a blast door with a number of warnings and security signs posted about it. Ignoring them, she depressed a lever, and he cringed, awaiting the promised alarms and lockdown protocols; they never came. _

_Shrugging off the brief concern as fast as it had come on, he followed her out onto a rocky ledge, briefly noting the blast door sliding shut behind them. "Is…" he went red as she turned and peered at him. "Is the air breathable." _

_For a moment, she stared calmly at the ridiculous question… and then she let out soft peals of laughter that were pure mirth, not mocking in the slightest. "Oh…" she sighed, "it doesn't matter. We could sit in open space right now, plunge into the heart of a nebula right now and be fine." She watched him for a moment before asking, "Would you like to?" _

"_Sorry?"_

"_Would you prefer to see a nebula?"_

_His confused eyes drifted over her earnest features before he turned away and looked up. "No," he murmured. "This is… nice." As the words left his mouth, a single arc of lightning illuminated the sky above them. He started, and then watched more closely as an entire electricity storm seemed to light up the clouds, which were shifting color with surprising speed. "Are you doing that?" _

"_No."_

"_Where are we?" _

"_Anoth." He'd never heard of it. "We lived here- me and my brothers- when we were very young; it was our protection, our safe-haven…"_

_And he understood why they were there._

X-X-X-X

_Some minutes later- or was it days?- she turned from where she sat, knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around her small figure, to look over at him, drawing his attention from the storm up above the clouds. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't come."_

_He struggled, knowing that the truth wasn't exactly ideal, but equally aware that she would see through a lie immediately. "I didn't want to; Jacen… persuaded me."_

_Another soft peal. "Oh? How did he do that?" _

_A moment's pause… "By… yelling at me?"_

_She smiled broadly and turned her own gaze back up to the clouds before unfurling her body and lying back against the rocky ground. "Why didn't you want to come?"_

"_You know why," he said quietly. _

"_Yes," she acknowledged immediately. "But you have to know why as well. This is about you as much as me."_

_That drew his gaze back to her, and he glanced down at her supine figure. She looked… whole, innocent, relaxed… in other words, everything she had _not_ been the last several times he had put eyes on her. Her eyes were soft and warm, her slightly-parted lips were turned up in a small smile, her hands folded lightly across her stomach._

"_I couldn't bear to face you; I was a coward." _

_Unperturbed, she turned and eyed him seriously. "Is it me you can't bear to face? Or yourself?" _

_Well… that was certainly something worth thinking over. "Both?" he suggested. "To face one is to face both." She seemed to mull that thought for a while… hours, perhaps, while he stared lazily up at the sky, eventually lying down as well, tucking his hands behind his head. "Why are you here?"_

_For a long time, she remained silent. Then she countered solemnly, repeating his own words back to him. "You know why."_

"_Me." _

_Sitting up suddenly and surprising him, she whirled around and stared anxiously into his eyes. "You?" she asked. "What you are? What you were? What you'll always be, now that you've had a taste of power, of the dark side?" He said nothing. "Zekk, I need to know." She leaned over him, eyes wide and beseeching, though he avoided her gaze. "Please…"_

"_I could never hurt you again," he finally said, eyes squeezed shut. "It would kill me."_

"_That isn't what I asked you."_

_After several more minutes- or hours- he mumbled, "Then I can't answer you; not yet. I don't know what I am anymore." _

_Unexpectedly, she smiled softly down at him after that, stood, and offered him her hand. Hesitating only a moment, he took it and was easily pulled to his feet. "Come," she said. "We have work to do."_

X-X-X-X

"_Do you remember the day we met?"_

_He blinked and looked around, finding himself unexpectedly in a familiar place. The air whipped around them as they perched- somehow, precariously and completely safely all at once- on a high ledge that sat five meters diagonally above a mid-level walkway in the depths of Coruscant, though a direct fall would have plunged them more than a kilometer to the planet's surface. _

"_Of course. The two of you came out of nowhere. I thought you were a bratty little pest of a girl." As he spoke, two nine-year-old, brown-haired and brown-eyed children came dashing down the walkway, clinging to each other, looking over their shoulders and laughing as they covered the open distance between buildings. _

_She chuckled at his assessment and nodded, peering down below them as a taller, older boy emerged from a window and leapt gracefully down on the path- nearly landing atop the startled twins. _

"Hey!"_ the eleven-year-old exclaimed, clearly not expecting such unusual visitors to that part of the city. "_Who are you_?" _

_The two exchanged looks, cocked identical brows, and turned back to the boy. "_He's Jacen_," the girl pointed. _

"She's Jaina_." _

_The older boy seemed annoyed. _"I mean… what are you doing here? You don't look like you live down here…"_ he took in their rumpled, but nice clothing, their kempt appearances. "_You look like you live… up _there," he gestured skywards with a grudging look on his face._

_The girl scowled. "_So?"_ she crossed her short arms over her chest. "_We can come down here if we want."

"Yeah_," the boy added, grinning. "_We got lost on the surface when we weren't even three yet and almost got eaten by cannibals."

_That seemed to impress the dark-haired boy slightly. He held out a hand to the other boy and they shook, an amusing sight from such young children, in retrospect. "_That's astral; I'm Zekk."

_The girl frowned and held out her hand. The older boy eyed it distastefully and then muttered, "_You're only a girl."

_In response, she scowled and lashed out with her foot, kicking him in the shin. He hopped on one leg, let out a surprised exclamation, and watched as she turned and stiffly walked back the way she had come with her brother, head held high, evoking an image of her stately mother._

"_That hurt," he whispered to the figure sitting next to him, who was smiling wistfully down as the scene dissolved. Suddenly, they were standing idly outside the Imperial Palace and, after a moment, he spotted his younger self lurking in the shadows, avoiding the random security patrols, waiting… and then he brightened, seeing the twins dodge around a statue and come running across the plaza. They were older now… maybe by a year. _

"Hey, Zekk_," the young girl's eyes were bright, and he grinned at her, all hostility from the prior scene forgotten during the intervening months._

"Good, you got out_," the boy's emerald eyes glinted in the low light. "_What's the plan then?"

_The twins exchanged wicked looks. "_Ever been to Dhalbreth Square_?" Jacen asked. _

"No… should I have_?"_

_They just grinned and led the way, older selves shadowing them as they wound there way with impressive navigational skills through the area surrounding the palace, in the middle of the night. His heart caught a little in his throat when he saw the three of them shed their outermost layers of clothing and plunge into the breathlessly cold fountain in their undergarments, young enough to be immodest about it and not care, young enough to overlook the piercing cold in light of the fun they were having. _

_He remembered it like it was yesterday._

_A loud laugh cut off suddenly, and he saw his younger self pressing a hand to the girl's mouth and a finger to his own lips, gesturing towards an approaching pair of security personnel. Glowfish were lighting up the area dramatically, and the trio slipped noiselessly out of the water, grabbing their tunics and shoes, and dashed across the square. _

_The scene shifted, and he was standing, watching two different security guards flank the three wet children while they stood, shifting nervously from foot to foot as they waited for someone to open the door of the Solos' apartment. They weren't waiting long; Chewbacca opened the door and growled in exasperation, Han and Leia shortly behind and looking relieved. _

"Thank you, Lieutenant_," Leia addressed the guard in charge. "_Our apologies…"

_And she was ushering the three wet children inside, snapping at Threepio to prepare some hot beverages, and rounding on them as they sat meekly at the table. "_You _really_ can't go running off like that, especially in the middle of the night!" _she exclaimed, before seeming to really register that a third child who she didn't know was present. "_And… you must be Zekk?"

"Yes, ma'am,"_ he murmured, intimidated by her high stature in life. "_I can be on my own way home now…"

"Mom_," young Jaina put in, "_can Zekk stay here tonight? His… folks are off-planet…"

_Leia stared at her daughter, seeming to recognize a half-lie but choosing not to press the issue in the middle of the night. "_Fine_," she muttered, "_if Jacen doesn't mind sharing his bed…" _the boy shook his head enthusiastically. "_But stop changing the subject, young lady! Coruscant can be a dangerous place, and the last thing _any_ of us want is for you to get yourselves kidnapped…"

_The image dissolved quickly and he looked around in confusion before recognizing a room in the Jedi temple on Yavin- her room, he guessed, by the litter of spare parts and half-assembled machinery. He turned around, watching, waiting, but only saw her standing, eyes closed, leaning back against a cool stone wall, breathing deeply. _

"_Sorry," she murmured. "Just… give me a minute."_

X-X-X-X

"Master Katarn…" the Jedi Master looked up from where he'd been lightly dozing in a chair, vaguely attuned to the three other presences in the room- the alert, watchful Jacen, the silent, closed-off Jaina, and Zekk, who hovered somewhere in between a trance and unconsciousness.

"Yes, Jacen?"

He pointed to a monitor above Jaina's head, and Katarn frowned, recognizing the variances from what they'd seen since she'd arrived. "I think something's happening… can you go get Cilghal?"

X-X-X-X

_They were back in the Solos' suite, watching the girl- older now, thirteen- crack open the door to admit her friend. Words were not exchanged- not needed- as they crept back down the hallway to the bedroom that the twins still shared, having refused repeatedly to sleep apart, to have her switch rooms with their younger brother. _

_Jacen was asleep; they seemed unperturbed by this fact, both knew from experience that he was a heavy sleeper, that they would not disturb him. Quietly though, they slid beneath the covers of her bed, turning their faces inward so that they could whisper for hours, ignoring the need for sleep, simply enjoying the bittersweet time before they left in the morning, not to return for several months from the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. _

_The first light of dawn was creeping through the window when she finally turned the conversation to the sad reason that they were huddled on the bed to share their last possible hours together. "_I don't want to go."

_He grinned, but looked upset himself. "_Sure you do. You and Jacen can't wait to be Jedi_."_

"Well…"_ she wanted to deny it, but couldn't lie to him. "_Okay, then I wish you could come with us. It isn't fair."

_He huffed, a sound of mock-indignation. "_What, sit around and learn to 'control my feelings' and move rocks around with my head? Thanks, but I'll leave that to you guys…"

_But they could both read the sadness in his voice, the resignation that the two friends with whom he had grown so close during the last four years would be leaving him in the morning, that he'd only see them a handful of times a year while they were training… and then, who knew…?_

"_Your turn."_

_He spun, having been so caught up in the innocently tender scene that he forgot about his companion. "What?"_

_She took his hand in his and led him from the bedroom… but rather than emerge in the hallway of the Solo apartment, he found that they were stepping into another familiar place… a horridly familiar place that made his stomach turn and his hands clench. "Jaina…"_

_Suddenly, they were there, his dark, bare-chested form looming over her timid, robe-clad one as he looked into her eyes… and then she was pulling away, and the ire in his eyes was heart-wrenching as he seized her wrist before tearing at the knot of her sash, her painfully shocked voice demanding an explanation…_

_And then they were in the twin's cell and he was pulling at her undershirt before pausing, fury rising in his face, and abandoning his efforts in order to send Force-lightning at her cowering body instead, not even stopping when she was unconscious… _

_And then he was pulling the robe from her shoulders while she shook, wearing a skimpy nightgown that made her feel humiliated without him even touching her… and she turned to retort and he was smacking her and driving her to the floor, landing a kick against her ribs, and cuffing her about the head…_

"_Stop!" he sobbed, "stop."_

"_Why?"_

_Anger rose in him, but he pushed it away, knowing that he had no right, no place being angry with _her_. Memories poured forth faster now, and he struggled to keep up… he was ordering her to sleep in the bed… she was waking up with his hand resting on her hip… he was hurling more lightning, at Jacen this time… _

"_You need to accept it, Zekk," her tone softened and he looked up, surprised to see that the scene had shifted again, and they were standing at the Holographic Zoo on Coruscant, watching their young selves huddle down in a tech center, giggling madly as they worked at the programming… "You can't understand what you are- _who_ you are- now, if you don't know what you were then. And to know what you were then, you have to be willing to look deep inside yourself, to search and find out how you became what you did. How you turned from this," she gazed longingly over at their eleven and thirteen year-old selves, "to a tool of the dark side, willing to do anything to achieve your master's ultimate goal…"_

"_How can you stand to do this?" he demanded, eyes pleading. "How can you watch me hurt you like that…?"_

_She smiled serenely. "Here … I cannot be hurt."_

"_But I can?"_

_Her brows quirked. "Only if you allow it." He frowned, confused. "Come now, Zekk… your turn."_

X-X-X-X

Luke stepped through the doorway of the medical ward with a frown on his face. It was the middle of the night, but he had sensed an unusual amount of activity happening down here, and it seemed prudent to investigate.

He was unprepared for the bizarre scene that met his eyes though.

As he stepped through the partial privacy divider around Jaina's bed, he really noticed the tension in the air that had been only a vague sensation before. His attention was first drawn to where Jacen Solo and Kyle Katarn stood, apparently engaged in a largely silent battle of wills, but hissing at one another from a meter apart near the foot of the bed.

Cilghal stood at the head of the bed, casting wearied looks at them and paying close attention to a particular monitor. She shot Luke a glance as he stepped through, but his gaze was quickly drawn, brow quirking in confusion, to the bed itself.

Jaina remained as still and lifeless as ever- but her hand was curled tightly around the limp hand of Zekk, who sat with his upper body slumped across her bed, the top of his head resting against her upper arm, and looking for all the galaxy as lifeless as she did.

Striding forward, drawing the attention of the bickering males, he reached out a hand to lay it against Zekk's head… and, surprising him immensely, it was Cilghal who stopped him. "I'm sorry, Master Skywalker," she murmured, shooting another look at Jacen and Katarn. "We've been trying to decide if interruption is… prudent."

"Interruption?" he peered around at the other two, noting Jacen's flustered, slightly guilty expression, and Katarn's impatient one. "Jacen," he narrowed his eyes at his nephew, "would you care to explain…?" he gestured back towards his unconscious niece and the young man who had made her that way.

He pursed his lips but did as asked. "When Cilghal and I tried to reach her after you all left, she spoke to me- briefly- before shoving me back out of her mind. And when I went to meditate, to try to understand what she wanted, I realized that I _have_ been letting my anger interfere, and that because of it, I ignored the last thing that Jaina asked of me."

"Which was?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't understand why- but when she woke up during our jump here, she wanted to see Zekk; I didn't _want_ him near her, so I let him ignore the request, when he _owed_ it to her, to give her the chance to confront him, to understand…"

Luke eyed him, not quite sure what to make of that. "So… you think that she was 'waiting' for Zekk?"

"Well," he flushed, "and for me to… start to let go of my anger. She ah… also told me that I was letting Brakiss win."

"I see." He took in the other Jedi Master's tense expression. "So what exactly is the argument here?"

Cilghal and Katarn both turned to look at Jacen. "Well… it's been nearly four hours… and Master Katarn is concerned that, not only will this not work, but that it'll only drive Jaina further into her own mind; Cilghal is worried that we should hook _Zekk_ up to some monitors if we allow this to continue; and if we _don't_, we have no good idea of how to separate the two of them short of slapping Zekk back into the bracelet."

"Which could be damaging, mid-trance like this," Luke nodded. "And what do you think, Jacen?"

He shrugged. "I think that if she didn't want him there, she wouldn't have let him in. Cilghal and I spent nearly an hour searching for her, only to have her toss me back out with no effort at all, and I'm her brother."

Luke considered that a moment, then shot a look at Cilghal. "What's _your_ read on the situation?"

Her flipper-like hands spread wide. "Something is happening, Master Skywalker; Jaina's brainwaves are spiking faster and more dramatically, suggesting that, whatever Zekk is doing, it's causing some reaction… whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is, unfortunately, impossible to tell."

"And it's been four hours?" They nodded collectively, and he sighed. "I really wish you'd have run this by me… or your _parents_," he gave Jacen a pointed look, and his nephew looked down, abashed. "But what's done is done… Cilghal, let's see what we can rig in here to keep Zekk properly hydrated and make sure he's still functioning normally…" his look drifted back over Jaina's face. "And maybe we should wake Han and Leia…"

"No," Jacen said firmly. Luke opened his mouth to give him a shocked admonishment, but Jacen beat him. "I'm sorry, Uncle Luke, but dad won't let this continue and you know it. Zekk needs to see this through."


	10. Chapter 10

**Part X**

_They were standing in a dimly lit cell, a groggy, dirty teenager pulling himself out of a groggy sleep- or unconsciousness- on a hard cot on the far side of the room. He had barely managed to sit up when the door slid open and he shrank back slightly, squinting against the brighter light of the corridor outside. The light was soon gone though as the door slid closed once more, and a tall, blonde, handsome man approached, standing before the bed as the boy sat up, scowling. _

"Who are you_?" _

_A sly smile graced the man's features. "_All in due course, my good man. First, I'd like to apologize for my colleague. She can be a bit… enthusiastic."

"Where am I_?"_

_A low chuckle sounded. "_I see you are not to be distracted. Now- your name is… Zekk?"

_He scowled. "_How do you know that?"

"I have my ways, young master Zekk. My name is Brakiss; I'd like to tell-"

"I know who you are_!" the boy sounded scandalized, green-eyes widening. "_You… you kidnapped my friends_!"_

_Brakiss frowned. "_You're confused; all the others came willingly…"

"Not_ them," he bit. "_You kidnapped Jacen and Jaina_!"_

_For a moment, Brakiss seemed at a loss for words. "_You know the Solos then, do you_?" This time though, the teen was wary, perhaps realizing that he'd given the man a weapon against him, volunteered information with nothing foreseeable in return… "_You needn't worry about them, they're here, they're safe."

"I want to see them_." _

"All in due course, to be sure_," Brakiss allowed the smug smile back on his face, calculating mind going to work. "_But let me ask you something… did your friends ever tell you that you could be a Jedi, just like them_?"_

_He looked suspiciously at the man. "_I don't know what you're talking about_."_

"Oh,"_ Brakiss adopted a sympathetic look. "_I was afraid of that. I just thought… the children of the chief-of-state and a Coruscant underling, they must have had some reason to consort with someone so far from their own position in life. But no matter; I'm sure they had very good reasons for not telling you about your potential to use the Force._"_

"They must not have known- or you're lying. Jaina would never keep that from me."

_Brakiss' brows rose. "_But Jacen would_?"_

"No_!" he was flustered and angry. "_They_ both_ would have told me something like that if it were true."

"Oh, but it is true, my friend; in fact, you show far more potential for power than either of them. Maybe that's why they were afraid of you, wanted to keep you safely beneath them while they ran off to become Jedi…"

"That's not how it is_!"_

_With a shrug, the man turned. "_We'll see. For now though, accept my apologies for my Tamith Kai's behavior. We'll get you moved to a better room in due course, and soon… I'll show you just how powerful you can be, Zekk…"

_And he was gone. For a long minute, he stood staring at his memory-counterpart, until a soft touch to his arm brought him back to reality- or whatever one might call this, he thought ruefully. _

"_Should we move on?" her voice was soft and sad, and it made him wonder how much the prior scene had affected her._

"_Oh… yeah…"_

_Everything dissolved- nowhere near as smooth a transition as when she did it with seemingly effortless fluidity, but it got the job done- and they were standing in a room that they both knew, though only his past self was present… along with Brakiss, who was handing him a lightsaber. _

"Turn it on_," the man whispered, "_feelit in your palm, feel its weight, its power._" The weapon ignited, and the teen's eyes darkened in anticipation. "_It is the weapon of the Force- though your friends have thus far proven too cowardly to use them. They don't want them enough, don't want to know what that kind of power feels like… but you do, don't you, Zekk_?"_

_Eyes contracting nervously, he switched off the blade. "_I…"

"You've been powerless for too long, Zekk; you have the potential to be great, but to achieve it, you need to focus your emotions. Give in to your frustrations and your anger, let them guide you…"

_He scowled and held the blade at arm's length. _"I thought the idea of being a Jedi was to control your feelings."

_Brakiss chuckled, a low and dangerous sound. "_That depends on your school of thought; for those lesser-minded individuals, those weaker friends of yours, the disciples of Skywalker… they try to trick the galaxy into believing them gods, when in reality, it is little more than sleight of hand that they practice. Your friends boast about their ability to purge their emotions, but let me ask you, Zekk- would you _want_ to? Why should be abandon feeling, when it guides us every day? Do you want to live a life without joy, satisfaction, fear, anger… love?_"_

"The Jedi can love_," he countered, albeit a bit unsurely. "_Even Master Skywalker is married…"

"Skywalker did not grow up in the teachings of the old order_," Brakiss said smoothly. "_He was already an adult before he began his training, as were all of his current 'Masters.' Much harder to impress the concept of an attachment-less life on pupils who are already married, have already tasted love, lust, affection… but what of the new order? What of the students who are growing up in the Jedi ways? What of… Jaina?_"_

"What about her_?" he demanded hotly, not noticing the darkened satisfaction in Brakiss' eyes as he so quickly gave into his emotions, didn't realize the irony. _

"You feel for her… don't you_?"_

_He scowled. "_She's my friend; so is Jacen. I care for them both_."_

"Zekk_," Brakiss shook his head, "_do not attempt to deceive me… you're so easily read. You have strong affections for the girl, you have for years…_" he said nothing. "_But you've been waiting for her to grow up, haven't you? You're sixteen now, you want more, but she's still the child you met five years ago in some ways…_"_

"She's not a child_."_

"But she doesn't reciprocate your feelings_?"_

_A red flush was rising in his pale cheeks, and he looked away from the smirking man. "_She's been… busy. We don't see one another often, since they left to start their training_."_

"Yes_," Brakiss murmured lowly. "_She's off learning how to 'control her feelings,' as you put it, and you're back in your dangerous, predator-ridden undercity pining after her…_"_

"I don't pine_!"_

"And one day, she's going to come home and laugh at you for ever having entertained such thoughts, ever thinking that a Jedi heiress, a chief-of-state's daughter could care for someone like you the same way you care for her._"_

_Setting the lightsaber down on a worktable, the boy crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "_You're wrong._" _

"We'll see, my young apprentice…_"_

_The scene shifted, and he looked around in confusion at a small cabin that looked like it belonged in a small vessel, a shuttle maybe… _

_Or the _Millennium Falcon_. _

_She was lying on the bottom bunk, curled on her side- older now, only months before the present. The door slid open and her brother walked in, closing it quickly behind him as he went to her side and sat down, pressing a warm hand against her shoulder. She rolled over, and his heart clenched to see her red, swollen eyes, tear streaks still glistening on her cheeks. _

"Sh_," her brother wrapped his arms around her as she sat up and leaned into his embrace. "_He'll be okay, you know he will… and we'll go home in another two months for dad's birthday, and we'll see him again…_"_

"I hate it_," she hiccoughed. "_One day we're going to come home and Zekk will have forgotten about us, will have grown up and moved on with his life…_"_

_Jacen's brow quirked. "_Without you_?" he teased, earning a vibrant blush from his sister. "_Never…"

_They stood, watching the twin siblings comfort each other for another few minutes before he took her hand in his for the first time in the seconds… hours… years… that he'd been here with her. "Come on," he murmured, pulling her through the door, emerging in a barren corridor back aboard the battle station. _

"Master_?" his wide-eyed counterpart was hurrying alongside a distracted-looking Brakiss. "_What is this test, exactly_?" _

"A duel,"_ Brakiss replied smoothly, glancing at the boy briefly. "_You are to prove yourself the Shadow Academy's best student, our darkest knight, by defeating Tamith Kai's best student_."_

"Vilas_?"_

"Hm_," Brakiss pursed his lips and nodded, perhaps wondering if his pupil was ready. _

_He shrugged. "_We've sparred."

_Brakiss' mouth quirked once as he pushed open the door to the large training room, where spectators were sitting eagerly behind transparisteel view panels. "_Do not underestimate him, Zekk. Tamith Kai's training is ruthless."

"And Vilas won't be able to tolerate second-best status_?" Zekk grinned. _

"There will be no second-best_," Brakiss said softly, backing out of the door. "_This is a duel to the death. Good luck, my apprentice._" And he was gone, leaving a startled, wide-eyed teen in his wake, staring at the lightsaber Brakiss had placed into his hand. _

_He spared her the duel itself, skipping ahead to him slipping into his quarters that were so familiar to them both. The door slid shut and he went to the desk, leaning heavily over it, breathing hard. His robes were torn and burnt, bruises were rising on his face, and his expression was one of blank shock- the look of one who has just killed for the first time, and for no good reason to boot. Simply to prove himself the better fighter, the better swordsmen, the more cunning duelist… _

_With a shout of rage, he sent everything flying from the desk with a shove in the Force; a datapad smashed into a wall and cracked, a chronometer shattered into dozens of little pieces, a few pieces of flimsi fluttered around before drifting to a slow stop on the floor. _

_He wasn't looking at the injured, triumphant boy, however; he was studying the girl next to him as _she_ watched him, and he could tell by her sad expression, her resigned eyes, that she understood- this was the moment when his innocence had been irrevocably shattered._

_They didn't linger; he wanted to move on, to push through the next part that he knew had been the tipping point…_

_Brakiss was standing beside a small holovid screen, finger hovering near a button. "_You never ask about your little friends anymore, Knight Zekk_," he admonished. _

"You never tell me anything_," he countered. _

_Brakiss laughed. "_True; I was trying to spare your feelings, I confess, but… I think you're strong enough now to understand just how mistaken you were about them_…" he depressed the button, and a recording appeared- a holo taken of the twins, alone in their little cell, sitting side by side, huddled together for warmth. _

"Do you think it's true, what Brakiss said about Zekk_?" she asked, voice sounding disinterested. _

_He shrugged. "_Who knows_?" his tone was equally dismissive. "_But, if it weren't, how would he have known about him anyway_?" A stinging reminder of how much of a nobody he was…_

"It's not like Lowie would have mentioned him_," she put in snidely. The observing boy scowled at the way she dismissed his importance…_

"I don't get it though_," the boy slung an arm around his sister's shoulders. "_What would Brakiss even want with him anyway_?" _

_He continued to stare at the screen, a dull ache reminding him how painful that moment had been, that realization that Brakiss was right, that he was nothing more to them than an amusement on Coruscant… _

"_Wait." He turned and glanced at his companion; she was staring, befuddled, at the two males in front of the vid-screen. "That's not…" she frowned. _

"_Hey," he said, "it's okay, really…"_

"_No!" she countered angrily, before relaxing and letting her eyes drift closed. "Take us back again, to the start." He did so, confused, watching as she raised a hand to the scene before them, and another to his own head. "Relax a moment…" she touched him lightly for a few seconds before pulling away, and watching the scene continue. _

"True," _Brakiss was saying again. "_I_ was trying to spare your feelings, I confess, but… I think you're strong enough now to understand just how mistaken you were about them…"_

"Do you think it's true, what Brakiss said about Zekk_?" her voice was urgent, alarmed, worried…_

_He shrugged. "_Who knows?"_ Concern was etched on his face. "_But… if it weren't… how would he have known about him anyway?_"_

_She looked just as concerned as he did. "_It's not like Lowie would have mentioned him_," she said, all too aware that their friend would never give away a personal piece of information that could be used against them- it was obvious in her tone, that was what she meant, now that he thought about it…_

"I don't get it though_," Jacen's face was twisted in legitimate confusion, and he pulled his distraught sister to him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "_What would Brakiss even want with him anyway_?" Well of course- if they didn't know he was Force-sensitive, then they _would_ be confused…_

_The import of what just happened struck him like a blow. He sank to his knees, ignoring the continuing scene around them, head in his hands. "No…" he muttered, heart tearing apart as the horrible truth crashed around him. "No…"_

_Warm arms enveloped him, and he leaned against her, dry sobs wracking him as the terrible realization of just how completely Brakiss had manipulated him- going so far as to alter memories- to turn him against them, against _her,_ finally sank in. _

"_How could he do that?" he cried. "How could he change entire memories like that…?" _

_She rocked him gently and murmured in his ear. "He had already planted the seed of doubt," she said softly. "That made you susceptible."_

"_But… but I told him he was wrong!"_

"_An idea like that is hard to shake… especially about someone you _do_ care for, and who you'd like to think cares for you."_

_He continued to kneel there, face buried in his hands. "I thought you said it wouldn't hurt…"_

_She reached over and touched his cheek, startling him. He looked up, startled- but not overly surprised, in retrospect- to see that they had moved again, they were sitting on a deserted beach, cold air blowing about them, but not chilling them, barely ruffling their garments. "Where… where are we?" he croaked. _

_She shrugged. "I just made it up. And I never said it wouldn't hurt, I said you had to _allow_ it the power to hurt you. That's what you're doing."_

"_How do I stop it then?" _

"_By recognizing that the pain, the fear, the anger will get you nowhere fast. By realizing that, here, there can only be understanding, that nothing can change, that we can't affect anything we learn, we can only embrace it and use it to make us stronger… or allow it to destroy us forever."_

"_Like the dark side." _

_She laughed again, the soft peal of joy that made his stomach twist and his heart warm. "Zekk… we're _talking_ about the dark side. That's where the pain, fear, and anger will lead you- where they already have, in your case. Your fear of rejection, of returning to a life where you had almost nothing… they gave you ambition, but in the worst way. You thirsted to prove yourself, at any personal cost, to the one who gave you everything, to show him that he wasn't misplacing his trust. But the part of you that clung to your old self… that part gave over to anger when Brakiss sent you, without warning, into a duel where you had no choice but to kill or be killed."_

"_And the pain?"_

_Her smile faded, and she sank back into the sand, staring thoughtfully over the water of the imaginary tide. "That part, Brakiss had to fake. For everything you've been through in your life, Zekk, you were always a remarkably selfless and happy person. But he found your weakness, and he found it early, and he used it to his greatest possible advantage. First he made you doubt… and then he made you mad… and last…"_

"_He tried to break my spirit." _

_She smiled again. "Yes. But you resisted- and we're going to find out why."_

X-X-X-X

"This is… fascinating."

Luke looked up wearily towards Cilghal, lack of sleep getting to him. Jacen was worse off, though adrenaline kept him going whenever anything came up, or someone had a different theory to pitch. They were starting to worry though- it had been six hours since Zekk had delved into Jaina's mind, two since Luke had showed up, and neither of them had moved once since then. They had briefly toyed with the idea of maneuvering a second small cot in the room, or perhaps a hover-gurney, but were all reluctant to risk any physical interruptions in what was happening. And so, for six straight hours, Zekk remained leaning over onto Jaina's bed, her hand gripping his- an odd situation that Luke had been thinking about for some time- but now he had basic vitals monitoring hooked up, a fluid line, and a few sensors on his head.

"What is it, Cilghal?"

She beckoned him forward, and showed him a chart display on a screen behind the bed, using her webbed hand to move the image back in time. On the chart were two separate lines that rose and fell in sharp spikes, sometimes in gentle lulls, sometimes hardly moving. Brainwaves.

"If you look at their respective wave patterns," she pointed to the top for Jaina's, the bottom for Zekk's, "there is nothing unusual, per say. They go through periods of heightened activity and lessened activity, much like one would expect when a being is sleeping and intermittently dreaming."

Jacen came and stared at the image, and Luke sensed the wave of surprise from his nephew. "They're… alternating."

He frowned and looked again. Jacen was right though- the periods of high activity for Jaina- fewer and far between during the past two hours than Zekk's- were perfectly alternating with his, and his own brain activity lessened when hers spiked. "What does that mean?" he asked, brow furrowed.

"Their minds are obviously linked; it… looks like they're communicating."

"But… wouldn't it be a more consistent pattern?" Jacen asked skeptically. "This looks like…" he scrolled through the waves again. "It looks like Zekk is active for most of the first hour here…" he continued scrolling. "And then there's a little blip where Jaina takes over- yelling at him maybe?" he joked hopefully. "But then it's all Zekk again until the end here where Jaina's been active…"

But as they watched, it shifted again, and Zekk's presence once more became the dominant one in the connection.

"Not necessarily," Cilghal murmured, considering Jacen's question. "Not if they're… taking turns."

"Turns?" Luke cocked a brow. "What, like they're sharing… dreams?"

She stared at the graph, then at the two unconscious teens, and then shifted her eyes to Jacen, considering their failed experiment at reaching Jaina's unconscious self. "Not dreams, no," she said slowly. "Jaina's brain patterns hadn't shifted enough _before_ he joined her for her to have been dreaming at all. More like… memories… visions maybe…"

"What about this spot here," Kyle Katarn finally roused himself to take interest in the conversation, having ignored Luke's suggestion that he go to bed. He pointed, and indeed, there was a brief flicker showed them _both_ with high activity.

"Shared memory?" Jacen suggested.

Cilghal pursed her lips and scanned the readout. "I don't know. But I would very much like to find out…"

X-X-X-X

"My darkest knight_," Brakiss held out his arms welcomingly as the dark boy strode forward across the deck, intimidating in a black uniform and flowing black cape. "_You've done well on your mission, I hear; many new recruits to fill our ranks_!"_

"Yes, master_," he replied stiltedly, tense and stiff from the excursion, the sneaking around, the long shuttle flight back. _"I am glad to hear that you are please, my lord_." _

_Brakiss beamed, the smile never reaching his cold eyes. "_I hope you are not too weary- I have a task that, I fear, only you can assist me with_." A dark brow cocked curiously, but his face remained otherwise impassive. "_I think it's time for you to pay a visit to your old friend, Jaina_."_

_He scowled. "_I don't want to see her."

"I understand, dear boy_," Brakiss patted his arm sympathetically. "_And rest assured that she doesn't want to see you; however_…" he trailed away and peered about the deck, as though looking for eavesdroppers. "_I'm afraid that my efforts to turn them have been… unsuccessful. I am beginning to think that they need additional… persuasion._" _

_That got his attention more fully. "_Surely you and Tamith Kai have done everything in our power here aboard the battle station…_?"_

"Yes, we have_," he smiled cruelly. "_But I think that your presence will unhinge the girl more than ours… depending on… how you treat her_." _

_A lengthy silence met his words. "_And… what does my master suggest_?"_

"Oh_," Brakiss waved the question aside, "_itis entirely up to you. But I thought that someone as familiar to her as you, someone she views as entirely non-threatening… that will draw a reaction from her in a way that our efforts have not yet been able. Besides…_" he glanced furtively at the thoughtful young man, "_you have unfinished business with the girl_."_

_Green eyes turned up to him sharply. "_I do_?" _

"Certainly_!" Brakiss exclaimed. "_Do you not desire vengeance for how she has treated you all these years_?" The young man looked uncertain, and Brakiss' voice became heavy with the power of Force-suggestion. "_Are you not bitter, angry at the way that she's strung along your affections, only to laugh at you behind her back with her brother_?"_

_The green eyes had gone curiously blank. "_Yes_."_

"Well, then… if you choose… this is your opportunity to exact your own little revenge, to show her that she is the powerless one, that it is not wise to treat young men as her… playthings…_"_

"Of course_," he replied tonelessly. _"I shall_." _

_The scene started to change, when the control was wrenched from his hands, quickly shifting into something else- the very scene to which Brakiss had just been alluding. "Jaina," he murmured, "I don't think we really need to see this one again…"_

_She held up a hand, concentrating, and they found themselves watching as he hit her, pushed her to the floor, before hoisting her back to the bed once more, where she stilled, eyes wide, as he approached and reached for her shirt, having already divested her of the jumpsuit. Moments later though, his entire body stiffened before he backed away furiously. _

"_What happened here?" she queried, ignoring the sound of electricity crackling at his fingertips before hurtling towards her body._

_He frowned, memory foggy. "I… I'm not sure. I felt something…" he looked away, sighed, and then turned back to her sharply. "You did something." _

_She smiled serenely. "Do you remember what?" _

"_I… no," he searched. "But… I suddenly couldn't stand to touch you like that, it seemed… wrong, but I was furious- at you, myself, or Brakiss, I'm not sure." He paused. "So what did you do?" _

_Grinning cockily, she shook her head. "Uh-huh… you have to figure that one out for yourself." His brow furrowed. "Don't worry about it now; it'll come to you in due course." She exhaled deeply, turned, and saw Jacen dashing into the room and smiled lightly at her brother's tender concern. She listened as Brakiss spoke with his dark knight in the doorway, watched as the older man approached her listless body, saw those green eyes focused on her, deadened, but with a flicker of something… "Huh," she said. "Interesting." _

"_What?" she quirked a brow. "Oh- another I have to figure out for myself?" _

"_Yup. Let's move on." _

X-X-X-X

"Master, I really must protest the usefulness of this arrangement…_"_

"Knight Zekk, I know the girl's presence irks you, but you have the upper hand here; her fear, her discomfort will rile her brother as long as she is forced to stay with you, regardless of _how_ you choose to treat her. It is entirely up to you_."_

_A heavy sigh. "_Yes, my lord…"

_He winced as he progressed the timeline to late that night when he lashed out at her as she sat silently against the wall, dragging her to the middle of the room, hitting her, kicking her… and then abruptly stopped and told her to clean herself up, prepare for bed. Despite her new injuries, she had fought him about it, finally relenting in a huff, even more annoyed when he ordered her to leave the door open while she showered and dressed. _

_The skipped ahead again, until she laid a hand on his arm. "Go back," she murmured. "To the next morning." _

_He frowned, but did as she asked, and they saw his figure standing at the desk, eyes closed, thinking hard… and then with a long-suffering sigh, he went to the far corner of the room and lifted her small, bruised body in his arms and laid her on the bed. With a click, he removed the cuff from her wrist and pressed a hand to her temple, and then stopped in surprise… _

_And she was waking up and hurling him across the room reflexively. _

_She frowned and turned to him. "What were you doing?"_

"_I…" he again fought through hazy memories. "I was surprised- I realized that Jacen had somehow forced you into a healing trance in your sleep."_

"_But what were you _doing_?" she emphasized. _

_He shook his head. "I'm not sure."_

_Pensive, she turned and saw her snarky form stalking back to the corner to return to sleep. "I think… I think Brakiss did more to your mind that day than just alter that one memory. Your memories are remarkably keen… until you start to soften towards me, or something tries to pull you out of the darkness…" _

"_Oh," he deadpanned. "Right."_

"_Don't worry about it," she said brightly. "You've obviously shaken his hold, or you wouldn't have been able to leave with us." Well that was reassuring, anyway. "What's next?"_

_She was mildly surprised when they found themselves in a corridor watching him converse with Jacen; her brother's tone was heated, his own mocking. _

"I want to see her."

"That wasn't the deal."

"It was her deal, not mine._"_

_She cringed at her brother's ire, but said nothing, watching the scene with keen interest. _

"And it was made with Lord Brakiss; take it up with him, then."

"You're a fool, Zekk… Can't you see that it's you that Brakiss is playing here? Not me, not Jaina- you."

"Ah. But it is you who is begging to see your idiot sister."

"What do you think is going to happen, Zekk? Where do you think this ends? Why do you think he agreed to hand Jaina over to you? Because she's the one person you never would have hurt before, the one person you would have done anything for… the one person who you'll never be able to forgive yourself for hurting now..."

"You presume far too much, Solo. Do not blame me for your sister's poor decisions."

"What happens when her use is at an end? He'll push and push, you'll hurt her more and more… until either you're broken or she is. And if she breaks first, Brakiss will tell you to kill her- because if you kill Jaina, you will never be redeemed, your own soul will be so far shattered and you'll become exactly what Brakiss wants from you- a deadly machine with no remorse… just an endless supply of regret and bitterness at the utter betrayal of your true self."

"Have a care, Solo. You're time will come soon enough- once I'm through with your sister, who will remain with me and alive until I desire otherwise."

"Just remember two things… she's fourteen years old- barely more than a child; and until a week ago, you meant the world to her."

"You and your twin, Jacen Solo, are most certainly not children."

_For a long moment, she stood and stared at the two teens, one with short brown hair, the other with long, tied-back dark hair, as the latter closed the former's cell door and retreated down the corridor. Then they were spinning through a fast blur of memories, most of them going by so quickly that he could not tell where they were, let alone when the memory took place._

_When the whirling finally stopped, and he could focus on where they were, he was initially confused and a little dizzy; they were sitting on top of a building overlooking a jungle canopy, the sounds and smells of plants and animals, a faint smell of hydraulic fuel drifting over them, and he realized that beneath them, the _Millennium Falcon_ was settling down in a clearing. _

_Atop the Jedi temple then. _

_A slightly younger version of her was dashing out the doorway that led back into the building, but the present one made no attempt to follow, simply settled down cross-legged on the cobblestoned roof and closing her eyes, calming a flurry of emotion. _

_Hours passed as he stared serenely, watching exotic birds dive among the treetops, watching the young twins dash to the landing ramp and meet their father, saw Lowbacca roaring a greeting at his uncle, before they all disappeared inside the temple… maybe it was only minutes then. _

_Eventually, he turned to glance at her, and she sensed his attention, opening her eyes and raising her earnest face to meet his gaze. "He knew," she murmured, shaking her head sadly. "Jacen saw _everything_; how was I so blind?"_

_He sat at her side, reaching a hesitant hand to touch her shoulder, relieved when she did not recoil. "He was more… detached from the situation," he suggested. _

"_I just… I should have seen it," she replied regretfully. "I might have been able to do something…"_

"_Hey!" he reached out and tilted her face towards him again. "Remember what you told me- nothing can change here, we can only embrace the understanding, allow it to better us, learn from it… no regrets, Jaina."_

_For a moment- or a day- she stared at him, wide-eyed, and he wondered if he had offended her, or hurt her feelings. Then she was beaming and standing, pulling him up with her, and wrapping her arms around him. "You _are_ paying attention," she murmured approvingly. "Good… very good. How goes the quest for your own understanding though?" _

"_What?"_

"_Zekk!" she admonished. "Why do you think we're here?"_

_He hesitated. "To… to understand who I am… by recognizing what I've been…"_

_She sighed. "You're just regurgitating what I said earlier. Yes, that's part of it, but… what about reconciliation, Zekk?" He stared, and her brow furrowed. "You need to reconcile the different sides of yourself before you become paralyzed by what you could become again. You need to _understand_ how it happened… so that it can never happen again."_

_He blinked once or twice, and then frowned. "But why are _you_ here then?"_

_Her tone was soft when she answered, after a moment's pause. "I too need to reconcile the two- or three, or ten- different sides of you. Because it tore me apart to see the utter split in your self, in your mind, in your soul… and I need to understand it before I can begin to recover. And…" she looked away pensively. "I may have a hidden agenda or two."_

_He didn't ask; he just accepted. And then he took her hand in his once more, and led her away. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Part XI**

_They had finally come to it; he stared stoically ahead as his former 'master' gave orders to his cold, dark counterpart, while she watched in intrigued silence- her curiosity, he found more unnerving than anything, but kept reminding himself that it was all for the purpose of understanding, that nothing could hurt them if they didn't allow it to… _

"Ah_," Brakiss was saying, "_you misunderstand the ultimate goal here._"_

"My lord_?"_

"The girl is far too unpredictable; even if she were to give in to her anger, she could not be trusted for long. No, I have abandoned the idea of turning them both- but the boy… he would have proved a great asset. He is strong, in control, thoughtful but a fast-actor… no, Knight Zekk, I decided long ago that Jacen Solo would be my target in this little… experiment. His sister just became the means to an end._"_

"Then… you planned this from the first time you had me confront her_?" He tried to mask the uneasiness in his voice._

"Me, Zekk? Your actions have always been your choice, I merely… present you with your options. It is no matter though- the quest has failed, and we must accept-_"_

"No,"_ was the hasty reply. "_My apologies, master- but I haven't failed you yet. Jacen Solo will be yours, and the girl will yet prove instrumental to his turning, I will stake my position on it_."_

"I know you will, Zekk. You haven't failed me yet…"

_He started to pass the memory of the actual assault, but she laid a restraining hand on his forearm, and he suddenly found them standing in a bare corridor, alone. "You can't escape the memory," she murmured. "If you try, it'll only hurt you more."_

"_Do… do we have to see it together?" his voice trembled. _

_She quirked a brow. "If you have to ask, then yes. You're letting your fear overcome you; the fear of yourself first, and then the fear for me. _Nothing can change_," she emphasized. "It makes no difference how you remember it- only that you do, willingly, calmly, and with the purpose of understanding, of seeing yourself, of remembering your mistakes for times to come…"_

"_Have… have you already…?"_

"_No," she calmly answered his unfinished question. "Only the next night, when I awoke. This…" she hesitated, looking away. "This, we have to face as one." _

"_But then haven't _you_ been avoiding the memory?" _

_He sounded mildly petulant, but she didn't seem to mind. "It's not out of avoidance," she denied. "It's… my memory is incomplete. I need to see it all, to see you steel yourself for what you were to do, to see your reaction afterwards and… I don't have those things, I cannot see them without you to show them to me." _

_He frowned. "We're in _your_ head."_

_That earned another of her honest laughs. "Zekk, we're completely intertwined right now; we are each other. Now stop stalling- we're almost done."_

_They stood unobtrusively near the door, watching him pace the small living space, stopping to lean over the desk and close his eyes wearily, casting periodic, furtive glances towards the refresher unit, where the sound of the sanisteam could still be heard. And then she emerged, robe cinched tightly around her waist, and his stomach knotted in nervousness, willing the scene to play out differently than he knew it had. _

_She took his hand and gave it a fast squeeze, willing his regret away. _

_They watched in somber silence as they argued, as his intentions became clear and she first discounted the idea, and then grew wary, fearful…_

_The scared memory of her was defiant though, until he turned manipulative, twisting her behavior, and she realized how she'd fallen into the web… and then he grew almost seductive, teasing her with promises of the freedom allowed by the Force, pressing his body to hers, whispering in her ear, until, eyes downcast, voice trembling, she gave him her decision. _

_His relief was palpable in the air._

_But then… as she tremblingly followed him towards the bed, as he looked into her eyes… _

_Everything fell apart. She recoiled, he grew angry… _

"_Why did you back away then?" he asked her softly, eyes riveted as he slapped the cuff back on her wrist, as he began to tear open her robe. _

"_Your eyes," she returned without hesitation. "They looked like… you. Like you did on Coruscant, like you… honestly liked me, cared for me even. I was horrified that, with what you were doing, there could still be some of the old you in there, that the other part of you wouldn't be protesting…"_

"_He was protesting," he returned. "Just not enough."_

_She took his hand in hers, and didn't let go this time. "I know that now."_

_Her disheveled form was staring, stricken, kneeling on the ground where she had fallen. _

"But… you said… if I cooperate… you gave me your word, Zekk!"

"And you believed me?"

_The next minutes… hours… years… they stretched on like an eon, and his defenses wore down, the pain, the remorse, the stinging regret, they could not fully be kept at bay. But her own calm presence was an anchor, reminded him that he could face this if she could, that her own detachment to her memory-self's painful cries, her sobs, her shrieks was proof that he could master his own feelings and overcome the pain and regret. _

_But that didn't make it easy to see him do it; to see him hit her, kick her, to see blood trickling from her mouth from a hard smack, to see bruises already rising on her pale, naked skin. _

_He wanted nothing more than to be able to stop it there, to go no further. Instead, he forced himself to see as he dragged her beaten, sobbing form back to the edge of the bed, as he divested himself of his sleep pants, as he violently and ruthlessly violated her body, heard her keening cries of pain and shock… _

_And minutes later, with disgust, they watched as he pulled away from the now-stunned girl who was whimpering softly to herself, seemingly unaware of the blood on her face, on her neck, on her thighs… she was shaking… watched as he, in a mockery of the honest and willing act, turned her body and climbed onto the bed, renewing his assault as he leaned almost gently over her, touching her face, caressing her small breasts… only her whimpers and the occasional soft cry betraying the fact that she was even still conscious. _

_When it was finally over, he pulled away and stood, not seeming to notice as she curled in around herself in one last display of strength before slipping into unconsciousness, possibly at the urging of her undoubtedly-affected brother. _

_The hand in his was tight now, the only betrayal of the anxiety that she felt at what they had just witnessed. "What did you mean," she murmured, watching the dead-eyed teen slip into the refresher, "when you said I think too loudly? What happened in that last moment before you changed your mind?"_

_He had known she would ask; was surprised she hadn't already. "I… you hated me. I could feel your despise, your revulsion, and for a moment, I hated myself too, I _knew_ what I had become… and it just made me angry. Somehow in my mind, I had tricked myself into thinking that you were going along willingly, out of affection for me…" he shook his head to clear it. "The reminder that such was not the case was… too much to handle. I snapped."_

"_Hm…" she pondered that while they sat in silence for a long time, until the surly figure reemerged from the refresher, a towel around his waist, taking the time to fully dress before even casting a glance at the bruised and bloody girl on the bed. When he did, he sat heavily in the chair by the desk, brooding and staring, as though willing her to wake up just with a look. "Did you sleep that night?"_

"_You kidding?"_

_Hours of the memory passed in eerie silence while they sat and meditated, waiting… until he stood, crossed the room, and drew a sheet over the prone body moments before the door slid open. They slid effortlessly out of the way as Brakiss walked in. _

"Lord Brakiss."

"Knight Zekk, I have only come to check on you and your… captive."_ He crossed to the bed. "_My, you had an… exciting night, I daresay."

"Is my lord… displeased?"

"Of course not, my darkest knight, you've done well. Come, walk with me… I admit, I wasn't sure that you would be able to follow through on your promise, but I stand mistaken, and must express my own sincere apologies for doubting you. You've not yet failed me, my boy."

"Has her brother been sufficiently crippled then?"

"Oh, yes. And the wookiee. Even some of our younger students were noticeably disquieted by the girl's pain last night. Solo and the wookiee are well on their way to ultimately giving in to us, we just need to wait for that last little… persuasion."

"Master?"

"The girl's use is at an end, you've accomplished everything I could have dreamed with her. Her death will provide the catalyst we need for her brother to give in fully to his despair and embrace the dark side."

"And… when do you intend to kill her, my lord?"

"Me? After the frustration I caused you, inflicting her constant presence on you for the past couple weeks… Knight Zekk, I wouldn't dream of denying you the satisfaction of killing her yourself."

_Time sped forward, and he was again sitting in the chair, staring with wide eyes at the still-unconscious girl, until he got up in frustration and crossed to her, sat down, pulled away the sheet to examine her wounds. He touched one and murmured her name, quickly withdrawing when she whimpered._

_An hour later, after more brooding, after his expression had gone from confused to hurt to anguished, he stood and strode out the door purposefully, clearly on a mission… _

"_That's it," he murmured, allowing her to pull him effortlessly out of the depressing room where her bloodied counterpart lay. "My mind was made up, I knew I would get you away no matter what happened to me."_

_Space seemed to swirl about them as she looked contemplative. "Where would you like to go?" she finally asked. _

"_Your room in the palace," he quickly decided. _

_She smiled and they were there, sitting on her bed where they had sat and talked, told stories, compared dreams… sometimes with Jacen, sometimes just the two of them… dozens of times in the five years they had known one another. "Good choice," she nodded approvingly. _

_He glanced around; they were alone, the rest of the suite was silent. "So… what now?"_

"_Now… we find your understanding."_

X-X-X-X

"No word from Jacen, I take it?" Leia asked disappointedly as she and Han got dressed early in the morning.

"No," her husband muttered. "Sweetheart, I'm worried…"

She wrapped her arms around him and sighed. "Me too. But we have to trust that Jaina knows what she's doing, I think, and to be ready to be there for her when she needs us."

They found Anakin in the small living room of the family-oriented quarters in the temple. He was pulling on his boots and chewing on a ration bar, glancing up to smile wryly at his parents as they emerged from their bedroom.

"Good morning," the thirteen-year-old said. "Are we going to see Jaina now?"

Han nodded immediately. "Yes- and I want to know what happened with Jacen and Cilghal last night, I'm a little steamed that no one told us either way…" he sighed and met his son's piercing blue eyes. "How about you, kid? Sense anything new from your sister?"

"She's on Coruscant."

Han and Leia stared following the automatic response from Anakin. "What?" Leia said carefully.

"She's in her room with…" he frowned and trailed away. "With Zekk."

His parents exchanged alarmed looks. "Anakin… Jaina's here in the temple."

The boy finished tying a bootlace and glanced up, frowning. "Yeah, I know- we saw her yesterday…"

"But…" Han stumbled for words. "Why did you just say she was on Coruscant then?"

Anakin's eyes widened slightly. "I did?" They nodded. "I have no idea."

X-X-X-X

"_I think I was always a little bitter," he finally broke the silence. "I knew that you guys had more than me, that you had a family, money, power…" he shrugged. "It was just the opening he needed to put the doubt there and let it grow."_

_She sounded exasperated. "Yes, but bitterness and doubt are one thing; betraying who you are and hurting your friends is a long step away."_

"_It was a big seed of doubt?" he suggested unhelpfully, and she smacked his arm playfully, but hard enough to show she was annoyed. He sighed. "Why do I have a feeling that you've already pieced together enough of this that you're really just laughing at my own ignorance."_

"_You're smarter than I thought." That earned her a glare and she grinned cheekily back. "Now talk it through."_

_He took a deep breath. "Okay- bitterness, check. He finds out that I know you, immediately grasps that he can pit me against you, can use who I am- what I am- to give me the slightest hesitation about your own motives, even as children."_

"_Good."_

"_He… shows me a taste of power, making me even more resentful of what I've been missing… solidifies my loyalty by proving me to be the best of the students… and delivers the death blow by twisting my doubt around my head so that the conversation I hear verifies my fears when, in fact, the same conversation only proved what I had been saying all along." He stopped and shook his head. "I just feel like I'm making excuses."_

_Her eyes snapped up to his. "No," she insisted. "You're understanding the how. People don't just wake up and decide that they're evil, Jedi don't just decide suddenly that they'd rather be Sith, that they'd rather tap into the dark side… there's a how and a why. And it's all there in front of you, you've showed it all to me already."_

_He sighed heavily. "Alright… so I'm angry and I'm bitter for completely false reasons… so I lash out at you to help Brakiss turn Jacen…"_

"_No!" she insisted. "Do you remember nothing from your _own_ memories? You didn't know for weeks that Jacen was the true target, and it had _nothing_ to do with helping Brakiss."_

_He scowled, but searched his memories more carefully. "Okay then, he needed help either way, so he wanted me to…" he trailed away, eyes widening and going a little fuzzy as he stared blankly at the wall across the room. "No," he muttered. "It was you; it was _always _you." _

_She smiled and nodded, encouraging him to continue. _

"_It was my fault; that first day when I woke, he could sense that you were… special to me," he went slightly pink, and she touched his hand. "And then… to rile me up, he used my own confusion about the Jedi and emotions against me, made it seem like you were… I don't know… toying with me while you were at the academy. But…" he frowned, "I didn't believe him."_

"_Exactly!" she beamed. "The doubt was there, but you weren't susceptible to his simple suggestions." _

"_But then how…" he thought harder, focusing on the difficult memory, the one where he had become suddenly and mysteriously blank and apathetic… "it was a mind trick all along," he breathed. "The whole thing."_

_She held up a hand. "The _whole_ thing?" _

_He flushed. "No, not… sorry. I still gave into the ambition, the anger way too easily… but you said… fear, anger, pain. He had the fear and the anger, but the pain… he faked it. The holorecording, the way he planted the suggestion in my mind that I needed to hurt you for my… unreciprocated feelings…"_

_Her lips quirked. "I was starting to wonder if you'd picked up on that… his tone of voice, the way you just lost all emotion… he was putting heavy pressure on your mind to adhere to his suggestions, to interpret them in his way. Had you been more thoroughly trained in _all_ aspects of the Force," she said ruefully, "you'd have caught it at the time, and been able to fight it, it usually only works on non-Jedi, and weak-minded ones at that." He nodded. "What then?"_

_Hesitating briefly, he caught her eyes and then looked away again. "He contrived it so that he knew you'd sacrifice yourself for Jacen…" he left off as she scowled. "Okay… he… shavit, Jaina, I don't know. He…" his face paled. "He saw how affected I was by hurting you."_

"_Yes."_

"_That's what you caught on to in that memory." She nodded solemnly. "So he…" his stomach sank as the full realization began to take effect. "I was weak; I wasn't ruthless enough for him. His machinations from then on were multi-purposed then- yes, he wanted you and Jacen to break, but he wanted to purge me of my attachment to you. Just like Jacen said… I was his pawn…" he took a shuddering breath. "And from then on, it was always about pushing _me_ further as much as you, knowing that it was killing something inside of me every time I touched you, every time I saw how uncomfortable you were…"_

"_Just like Jacen said," she murmured, repeating him. _

_His voice took on a slightly hysterical edge. "But my fear of disappointing him, of losing all I had earned… my anger that I still felt over _your_ 'decision' that put you in my room in the first place… the pain that I had been wrong about you and Jacen- you, especially… it didn't matter that I was killing myself inside, I couldn't let him down."_

_A soft smile curved the corners of her lips. "Which brings us to the matter of how- and why- you broke free."_

X-X-X-X

"Mom and dad are coming with Anakin."

Luke glanced up at his nephew, who was still sitting a silent vigil by the side of Jaina's bed that was not occupied by Zekk. "What do you want to do?" he murmured, taking in Jacen's weary expression, glancing over at the unconscious pair who had showed no outward signs of change in… he looked at the chrono... three more hours- save that Zekk had finally tightened his own grip of her hand, so they were clasped together, fingers intertwined.

Only Cilghal seemed unaffected by the uneventful, sleepless night, still watching in rapt attention as their brainwaves alternated and varied, danced around each other. He half-suspected that, when this was all over, she wanted to conduct more extensive research in whatever was going on between them.

"Uh…" Jacen looked down at Jaina's face and then sent a lingering look to where their hands sat curled together, pursing his lips. "Stall?"

Kyle Katarn walked in the room after having taken a two-hour break for a nap and a sanisteam. "Stall?" he asked. "Your sister is unconscious- has been for, what? Five days now? And you think that you can stop them from coming in here? Jacen, your father doesn't even need the Force to break his way in, it's his daughter that's hurt."

Jacen's lips quirked wryly. "Yeah, I know."

"I'll head them off," Luke finally relented. "Try to er… explain. But Cilghal, I might start working up some good theories on ways to end this before Han blows a gasket…" He stepped around the privacy screen and quickly departed the med ward, only reaching the corridor about ten seconds before the turbolift at the end of the hall arrived with a whir and opened with a hiss.

"Luke!" Leia hurried forward. "Is everything alright?"

He held up a hand to stop the trio from going any further. "It's… fine," he said slowly. "But listen…"

"What happened last night?" Han demanded. "I thought Jacen was going to help Cilghal try to reach her…"

"He did- and he succeeded only slightly," Luke quickly explained. "She communicated with Jacen extremely briefly and then threw him out of her mind, I guess." Han and Leia looked perturbed; Anakin just nodded acceptingly. "And when he meditated on what had happened, on what she said… he came to an… interesting conclusion…"

They stared at him for a few beats. "What sort of conclusion? Does he know what's wrong with her?" Han asked quickly.

"No, not any more than we already did," he said. "But- you remember what Cilghal said, that Jaina was waiting on something or someone? Jacen came to believe that she was waiting on… Zekk."

Han blinked and the snorted his laughter. "Real funny. What does Jacen want to do, let him out and bring him down here?"

"He's already here," Anakin broke his silence.

"Yes," Luke shrugged apologetically. "He's been here for about nine hours now."

"_Nine hours_?" Leia shook her head. "Luke…"

"What if he's just doing more damage?" Han asked hotly, stepping around Luke and striding angrily forward. Luke let him go, knew that he would not be halted, but called after him.

"Han…"

The door burst open, and Luke, Leia, and Anakin hurried behind as Han wrenched open the privacy curtain around Jaina's bed- Jacen was waiting for him though, standing in front of Zekk's slumped form. "Dad…"

"What is wrong with you? Are you trying to antagonize your sister _more_ now?"

"Wait…"Jacen was shoved sideways as Han made to grab Zekk, to pull him away from the bed, barely seeming to register that the boy was unconscious and attached to a handful of monitoring machines himself. "Dad…"

He grabbed for Zekk's arm- and then found himself stumbling backwards a few steps. He looked up in angered surprise- and the surprise only grew greater as he saw the source of his hindrance.

"Captain Solo," Cilghal barked deeply. "_Wait_."

X-X-X-X

_They were lying side-by-side now, arms folded over their chests, staring up at the ceiling, evoking memories of the dozens of times they had laid like this and talked, often in the middle of the night, whispering to avoid waking up anyone else in the suite._

"_Have you figured it out yet?"_

"_Yes."_

_She rolled slightly, looking up at him expectantly. "Oh?"_

"_Yes. It all goes back to when he altered my memory- or maybe when he first used the Force to persuade me to act against you," he winced, but she just nodded. "You're the one who said that he did more… he blocked all of my positive feelings towards you, and my own feelings of regret or remorse."_

"_That's right."_

_He rolled to his side too, and they were facing each other with their faces only inches apart. "And I figured out what I was trying to do the first morning you woke up, and you threw me across the room… I felt guilty; I wanted to put you in a healing trance myself. _That's_ why I was surprised that Jacen already had. But whatever influence Brakiss left on my mind- or my own refusal to hold on to such a human emotion- wouldn't let me remember that I was worried about you for long." He paused, took a deep breath. "So… I fought it subconsciously instead." _

_That earned a surprised flicker of her eyes, and he grinned. "Have I uncovered something that the master memory-analyzer has failed to pick up on?" _

"_Do enlighten me," she drawled dryly._

"_He made everything I did feel like my choice, no matter how much or little he manipulated my final actions; this heightened my guilt, which I wouldn't let myself feel… so I funneled the process down to you. Made things look- to me- like _your_ choices. And that last night… when it became so obvious that it was _not_ your choice, when I took your cuff off…" he shuddered. "That's when the illusion shattered."_

_A small smile came across her face as she thought it over. "You really were angry when Brakiss agreed to my proposal, to leave Jacen alone."_

"_Yes."_

"_Because it felt like my choice- but I never specified the conditions of the agreement, only that you stop hurting Jacen."_

_He looked at her, suddenly suspicious. "You knew… you said… you already had realized that it was you that I wanted to… to hurt- that Brakiss wanted me to hurt," his voice caught, and her hand reached over to pull his into the small space between them, where she held it and stroked the back comfortingly. "Because… because the first time, you could read just how much he had twisted my mind… and then… you did something…"_

"_That's right," she smiled. "What did I do?"_

_His face took on a dazed, dreamy look as he fought through the blurred memory, altered by his inability to retain positive feelings for her, negative ones about what he was doing to her… and then it came to him, and he understood so much more, about everything… _

"That's_ why you're here," he breathed. She frowned, confused. "Because… at that moment, you saw that I wasn't myself… _'This isn't you. Don't do this; not like this. You don't want to hurt me, you've never hurt me. We're friends.' _That's what you told me. And then, to prove it… you _forgave_ me." He stared into her eyes, which were mildly uncomfortable for the first time. "You forgave me before I'd truly hurt you and then… when I did… that's what _you're_ reconciling. You offered unconditional forgiveness to someone who turned around and hurt you ten times worse, and it tore you apart because… because I wouldn't come see you, I couldn't give you the confirmation you needed that your forgiveness had been justified, that underneath, it _wasn't_ really me…"_

"_Yes." Her voice was far away, dreamy almost. "I'm not sure I even realized it until now… but yes."_

"_So this whole thing… understanding why I did what I did, why I betrayed you all and then turned around and betrayed Brakiss… has really just been about justifying to yourself that you were right about me."_

_She shrugged. "I did say I might have a hidden agenda or two; I never said I knew what it was." Her expression turned very serious though. "Don't think that your own understanding isn't just as important," she warned. _

_He looked pained. "I know; and I _do_ understand, at least I'm starting to… but how do I know that it won't happen again? That I won't let fear and anger win, that I won't allow myself to be manipulated by someone else…?"_

_She smiled broadly. "That, Zekk… that cannot happen here. Remember- what we are doing, where we are… this can only serve to further your realization, your understanding, you need to embrace those… but the healing itself… that needs to happen elsewhere."_

"_Where?"_

_A soft peal of laughter tickled his heart. "Only the mystical realm of reality," she replied wryly. "Come…" she rolled off the bed and stood, pulling him up with her. "Let's go somewhere else."_

_And then they were standing beside a large pool with a waterfall crashing down from above, spraying mist all around from the hundred-meter drop. Encircling the water were trees of a dozen kinds, the calls of hundreds of animals distinguishable somehow above the sound of the water… just as her own soft voice was easily heard, despite the surrounding noises. _

"_Do you recognize it?"_

_He knew that he certainly had never been here before. "No."_

"_It's Alderaan." He blinked, confused. "There's a holo of this spot in my parents' bedroom back on Coruscant. My mother and Winter used to come here and go swimming when they lived in the royal palace together."_

"_It's beautiful."_

_She murmured her agreement, and led the way around the pool, taking in the sights and sounds with an eager, youthful curiosity. When they had circled the wide perimeter a lifetime later, coming back near the spot where they started, she took his hand and led him over towards the wooded area, finding a convenient area of open grass. Acting as one, they shed their outer cloaks- which they hadn't been wearing back on Coruscant or anywhere else, he noted curiously- and laid them on the ground, making a blanket. _

_They lay down side-by-side again, but much closer than before, arms pressed together, hips brushing against one another. "Are we going to be eaten by some predator?" he asked casually as he listened to the calls of the wildlife. _

"_Oh," she flushed, "no." Abrubtly the noises stopped, save the sound of crashing water. "There aren't any really- I was just using sounds from Yavin, mostly, I have no idea what sorts of animals lived on Alderaan."_

_The mind was a powerful tool indeed. _

"_So… what now?" he broke a comfortable silence that had stretched on for another eternity. _

_She turned her head to him, a serene smile gracing her features. "Do you feel like you understand, you realize all you need to, in order to move on, to grow? Have you accepted what has been so that you can look forward to what is to come?" _

"_Yes." His answer came quickly, without hesitation, surprising even him. "I think… if he'll allow it… that I'll stay around Yavin for a while and work through things with Master Skywalker."_

"_He'll allow it," she murmured, looking back up at blue-green skies._

_He glanced sidelong at her peaceful expression. "So… do we go back now?"_

"_Back?" she turned again, propping herself on an elbow. "You don't like it here?"_

_He blinked. "I… I do, of course, but…" he frowned, seeing her defiant eyes, the wary set of her face, of her posture… "Jaina," he murmured, "you can't hide forever."_

_For a tense minute- or hour- she stared at him; and then, releasing a heavy sigh, she slumped down, resting her head against his shoulder, curling her body along his side. His arm fell naturally across her shoulders, drawing her close, listening to the sound of her slow, steady breath. "I know," she finally said. "But… we could stay a while longer, just the two of us…"_

"_Jaina," he reached his free hand around and cupped the side of her face, vaguely registering that he would never have touched her like this before, but it didn't seem to matter. "Do you know how long you were here before I showed up?"_

"_Time does not exist," she said calmly. "Haven't you realized that?"_

"_For _you,_" he exclaimed. "And right now, for us… but you'd already been unconscious for four days _before_ I came, and who knows how long it has been now?" _

_Her face fell slightly at that declaration. "I just… don't want to hurt anymore," she admitted softly. _

"_I thought the only pain was the pain you allowed to hurt you?"_

_She grinned. "That's _here_," she said. "When you wake up… those rules won't apply; it _will_ hurt, Zekk- you'll just be a step closer to moving on from the pain."_

_He lowered his face close to hers, peering earnestly into her soft, brown eyes. "And the Jaina Solo I know would never run from a fight; did _you_ come to an understanding with everything you needed?"_

"_Yes." Again, the response was without hesitation, the single word containing absolute surety, and he was glad. "With your actions… my forgiveness… Jacen's anger…" she didn't elaborate on the last, and he didn't pry. "I have what I need."_

"_Then come back with me." She looked wistfully around at the trees, at the isolated and peaceful pool and the waterfall crashing down the cliff into it. "Please. Your family needs you." _

"_Just my family?"_

"I_ need you." Still, she was reluctant. He sighed. "Okay then, if you don't come back, your father will kill me."_

_She laughed. "Now _that_ is a reason I believe." _

"_You should believe the others," he said, a little hurt. "They're true too." She turned and met his gaze, biting her lip, eyes calculating. Without a second thought, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss against the corner of her mouth. "Come back," he repeated, still cupping her face in his hand, his thumb stroking her cheek. "I do need you." He hesitated. "Jaina… I lo-"_

"_No." _

_He froze, eyes wide, too surprised to be hurt. _

"_Not here," she said, shaking her head. "You can't say that here."_

"_Why?"_

_She smiled sadly and pulled away from his hovering face. "Because the pain _will_ come, and you need to handle that first. As do I. There can be no declarations, no promises, not if you really want to go back, not if you want me to go with you. We need to heal from what has already happened before we can move on."_

_Nodding stiffly, he understood, as much as he tried to deny it. "Okay." Leaning forward, he brushed one last kiss across her forehead, and then stood, reaching out for her hand and pulling her to her feet. "I'm ready. Are you?"_

_Steeling herself, she nodded. "I'll be right there with you; I promise." _

_They closed their eyes. _


	12. Chapter 12

**Part XII**

"_He's waking up…"_

"_About damn time!"_

"_Han!"_

He cringed against the loud voices, became aware of a slight pain in his head, a more insistent one in his chest… and a warm hand tucked firmly in his…

He coughed violently and opened his eyes, squinting against even the dim light of the med center. As his eyes focused, everything was oddly… sideways. And then he realized that the pain in his chest was from the cramped position in which he was laying, sitting in a chair, leaning over onto the bed… why wouldn't he have just slept in bed?

Oh- someone else was in the bed… he dragged his head up, squeezing his eyes shut to attempt to clear his mind… and then hands were at his shoulders, helping him sit up, and he struggled, twisting around to dislodge his mysterious attacker…

"Zekk!" He froze. "Calm down!"

Stilling, he finally was able to pick out a presence sitting across the occupied bed from him- Jacen, who was staring expectantly at him before shifting his gaze down to the bed and looking disappointed. "What happened?" he asked. "Didn't you reach her?"

Her. On the bed. Jaina.

Right.

Coughing again, he attempted to stand, but found firm hands still pressing against his shoulders. Angrily looking up, his sharp green eyes met the stern blue ones of Luke Skywalker, and he deflated, slumping in the seat.

"No change," he heard another voice murmur; he glanced up and saw a mon calamari female staring at a monitor on the wall above Jaina's head. A wave of dejection filled the room, and he blinked around blearily, recognizing presences vaguely as his mind caught up to the more important fact…

She wasn't waking up.

With a strangled cry, he wrenched himself from the Jedi Master's grip, sudden strength surprising the man, tearing sensors from his body, pulling a drip line from his arm that he had barely registered. "Jaina," he cried, pulling himself up to kneel beside her still figure on the bed. He took her hand again, clasping it between both of his, as he leaned forward, staring at her face, willing her eyes to open. "You have to wake up, Jaina," his voice broke. "You promised; you promised that you'd come back with me…" A hand grasped at his elbow and he pulled away violently, eyes never leaving the calm face. Shaking, he leaned forward, and ghosted a kiss across her pale forehead…

The hand seized his elbow firmly and pulled him away. "That's _enough_," a harsh voice broke his concentration, and he turned towards the ire-filled face of Han Solo. "You've done enough here, I think it's time-"

"Dad!"

"You let him into her mind for ten hours, and for what?" Han barked at his older son, still attempting to wrench Zekk from the bed. With a sudden burst of Force energy, he sent the man stumbling backwards, yanking his arm free, as he again pulled himself over to the unconscious girl, tears beginning to fall down his face.

He was generally aware of the new outrage this move had caused, but he paid little mind as he touched her cheek and murmured, "You promised me, Jaina; you got what you needed to move on, to heal, and you promised me that you'd be here with me while we healed together."

"_Enough_, Zekk." New, gentler but firmer hands grabbed his arms, pulling him away from her. He struggled, but the new person had the Force to back him up, and he was quickly subdued.

"Master Katarn," Jacen said hesitantly, "I don't think.."

"It didn't work, Jacen," Leia interrupted softly. "I'm sorry, but whatever has been happening in Jaina's mind for the last four days- for the last ten hours," she added softly, pained eyes meeting Zekk's emerald ones, "it didn't bring her back."

"But we need to-"

"She's waking up." Every eye in the room swung to Anakin, who was standing calmly in the corner- every eye save Zekk's. They whirled immediately back to the figure on the bed and, with a last burst of effort, he tore free from Katarn's grip, loosened by his surprise and broken concentration, and went back to the bed, sitting shakily on the edge and pulling her hand to him one last time, stroking it, murmuring incoherently.

"Come on, Jaina," he whispered, seeing her eyelids flutter. By now, the room had gotten over its surprise, and the bed was surrounded, but they let him alone for the moment. "Come back; they need you. _I _need you. It'll hurt, but we're all here to help you get over the pain. We love you… _I_ love you."

Jacen recoiled in alarm at the same moment that her eyes shot open and Han once more succeeded in seizing hold of Zekk's arm. "Just what… what _right_… do you think you have…?" he hissed, his fury too strong to even form a coherent sentence. "You're a monster, you little…"

"Let him go, dad."

The voice was weak and dry, sticking in her throat, but it brought the entire room to a deathly stillness, and prompted Han to release the arm he was clutching, shocked. "Sweetheart…?" he asked, peering at her face as though he might be looking at an illusion. "Are you… okay?"

But her attention was focused solely on Zekk, on those piercing emerald eyes. "So… impatient," she croaked, earning a chuckle, muffled by his tears. Cilghal quickly poured a cup of water and passed it to Jacen, who held it to her lips while she took a few small sips. "I told you… not to say it," she said softly, looking remarkably exhausted for one who had been unconscious for four and a half days, but a smile was touching the corners of her mouth.

He let out a strangled sob and tightened his hold on her hand. "You said not to say it there; I waited." Tears were pooling quickly in her eyes. "It's alright," he murmured, stroking her hand in his. "Let it hurt; get it out this time, don't trap it all inside…" She squeezed her eyes shut, tears already slipping past her lashes and sliding down her cheeks.

Eyes still closed, she tugged weakly on his hand, and he hesitated, glancing quickly at the people surrounding the bed… but this was for her, not them. He slid over next to her and drew her into his arms as comfortably as possible, her head resting against his chest, his arms around her shoulders as he leaned his cheek forward to rest against the top of her head. "Let it out," he murmured again, feeling his own tears escaping and wetting his face.

And for a long time, she lay sobbing in his arms while his silent tears dampened her hair until, eventually, her shuddering breaths slowed and deepened and she fell into a natural sleep. Sitting up after what felt like hours, he lowered her gently back to the pillows before wiping at his damp cheeks with the sleeve of his robe, unembarrassed but exhausted beyond imagining.

As he pulled away, her hand reflexively tightened in his; smiling softly and wearily, he took it and pressed it into Jacen's, who looked up at him and nodded once, eyes grateful. Nodding exhaustedly, he slid off the bed, knees buckling beneath him as his tiredness struck full-force. A hand reached out to steady him, and he looked up into the hard- but slightly less infuriated- eyes of Han Solo. "Get some sleep," he muttered gruffly.

Inclining his head, he made for the door, though a soft voice made him pause. "Zekk." He turned, the room spinning a bit too far and too fast. "I won't pretend that I understand, but… thank you. For whatever you did." Attempting a small smile at Leia, he turned around, too tired to reply.

He left then, vaguely realizing that Katarn, the healer, and Master Skywalker had departed at some point, escaping his notice while he had consoled the crying girl. The latter of the three, however, was waiting for him outside the partition. Without a word, he allowed the Jedi Master to lead him over to a different area of the med center, and he laid down in the proffered bed in relief.

"Rest, Zekk," the man murmured. "We'll talk more later, you and I."

And he was asleep.

X-X-X-X

She was comfortable, more relaxed than she could remember being in weeks. Except for a parching dryness of her throat, and a gnawing thirst, she would have thought that she could remain lying there, warm and safe, for another few days…

"You're awake."

Scowling, she opened her eyes, and an identical pair to her own was gazing back at her. "I was enjoying the moment," she countered, voice raspy. He wordlessly lifted a cup and tilted a straw towards her mouth. Mentally rolling her eyes, she reached up to take the cup from him… but her arms just felt so heavy…

"Relax," he reprimanded. "I'm allowed to dote on you for at least a few minutes." Really rolling her eyes that time, she nevertheless sank back and sucked eagerly on the straw, reveling in the cold liquid sliding down her throat.

A quick glance around confirmed that they were alone. "Where is everyone?"

"Undoubtedly coming momentarily; Anakin will have sensed that you're awake." She frowned and blinked a few times, trying to get a better grasp on time and place, two things that had seemed so irrelevant for the duration she was unconscious… "You remember where we are, right?"

She cocked a brow. "Remember? No. But I can _see_ that we're in the Jedi temple on Yavin, silly. How long have I been… out?"

"About five days now."

"Hm," she exerted herself and sat up slightly. "Zekk said four."

Jacen's brow rose. "Well… it was four when he ah…"

"Joined me?"

"If that's what he did," Jacen shrugged. "But he spent ten hours unconscious with you, and then you both fell asleep, and it's been another six now… anyway, it rounds to five." He fell silent and cast his eyes about before returning them to meet her steady gaze. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

The corner of her mouth twitched, but she fought the smile. "For what?"

"For letting my anger get the better of me," he spoke lowly, seriously. "I was just… so _mad_… that I couldn't see enough to understand what you wanted, what you needed. And it shouldn't have taken me four days to understand that." His head bowed, but she just smiled.

"Did you really yell at Zekk to get him to come in here?"

Jacen looked up and grinned. "I didn't… yell," he said carefully. "I… forcefully encouraged." For a long time, he studied her face, her tired eyes and soft smile as she lay there thoughtfully. "So… can I ask what exactly happened during those ten hours?"

Her smile turned wry. "It's a long story. Anyway, don't worry about it; not now, anyway. I want to spend a little time being acquainted with the real world again." She paused. "Where is Zekk? Is he still asleep?"

"Yeah, I think so… Uncle Luke put him across the wing, he was pretty beat after you fell asleep again. Not that I blame him; if you made it half as hard as it was for me and Cilghal…"

"Not hard at all," a quiet voice countered from the doorway, and they both turned and saw the person in question standing there, Luke's hand on his shoulder. "I didn't even know what was happening, I just found myself standing in your old playroom…"

Jacen cocked a brow, but Jaina just laughed softly. "Like I said- _long_ story."

Zekk met her gaze and smiled ruefully. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm going back upstairs but… I'll be around." The unspoken _if you need anything_ was not missed by the room's other two occupants.

"Wait." Jaina slid off the bed, and Jacen rushed to take her arm, making sure that she was strong enough to stand on her own after so long off her feet. When she did not stumble, he tentatively released her and, after a questioning glance towards Luke, Zekk came forward and met her partway. For a minute, they stood there, staring at each other, and she sensed a lot of things going on behind his eyes- but a lot of very different things than when she had last faced him in this realm. "Good," she smiled finally. "Now go and fix your head." He laughed and nodded; she clasped his hand once in hers and turned, falling heavily into a chair.

They had almost disappeared when she called after them. "Oh, Uncle Luke? You should find some more permanent quarters for Zekk… he'll be staying a while."

"Will he now?" her head shot up as her father's voice rang out quietly from the doorway. Moments later, he approached the open-partition and stopped, standing a couple of meters opposite Zekk. The nervous teen hesitantly met his glare, but there was nothing to be said, and he had the look of someone waiting to be decked- or run through.

Jaina exchanged a look with Luke who nodded slightly and steered Zekk around Han and murmured to his brother-in-law, "We'll talk about it later- and at great length," he assured him. Han looked grudgingly after him a moment before remembering why he was there when Leia darted around him in annoyance and hurried through to the small medical unit, briefly surprised to see Jaina sitting slouched over in a chair, Jacen hovering anxiously by her side, rather than in the bed.

"Mom," she smiled widely and leaned forward in her mother's embrace, Leia kneeling on the floor in front of her. "Dad, Anakin," she peered over her mother's shoulder, happy to see the rest of her family. "Thanks for uh… sticking around…"

Leia pulled back and stared incredulously into her face. "Oh, sweetie," she murmured, taking her hand, eyes damp. "We were so worried…"

"I know," she said softly. "I'm sorry." With effort, she pulled herself to her feet and stumbled into her father's arms. "But I'll be alright now."

"Because of Zekk."

Jaina pulled back and looked up her father, shocked at the almost bitter tone of his voice. She glanced at Jacen, saw him looking away awkwardly, saw Anakin looking casually disinterested, and Leia peering at her concernedly. She sighed, and realized that, as much as she'd like to fool herself, this wasn't a conversation that she was avoiding. "It isn't like that. I'm glad you're all here; I still have a lot of things to work through, and just knowing that you're here next to me will get me a long way."

"I'm just saying," Han muttered, "he doesn't get to break you and put you back together and pretend like nothing ever happened."

Lingering exhaustion shortened her temper. "Do you think I don't realize that?" she demanded. "Does it _look_ like I think nothing ever happened? I hurt dad, and not only physically, and I will for a long time- but so will Zekk. And what may have been only ten hours to _you_ was an eternity for the two of us while we faced that hurt, understood it, realized why, _how_ it could happen- so that we would one day be able to move on. So please dad- the darkness is gone from his mind, from Jacen's… don't make me feel it from you too."

Jacen winced and Han looked mildly abashed. Leia, however, pursed her lips and guided Jaina back into the chair. "I think," she said slowly, "that we all understand… most of that. But my concern- and your father's, I imagine- has more to do with the fact that, less than a week after doing what he did, Zekk tells you that… that he _loves_ you? And that this doesn't particularly… bother you?"

And to everyone's surprise… she laughed. It was a long, delighted sound that served to lessen some of the room's tension. "Oh," she sighed, "why should it bother me? We spent hours linked, our minds one and the same- do you think I didn't already know? That, after sharing our deepest thoughts, our most powerful memories… that either of us can deny that, in some way, we've _both_ loved each other for years? How do you think Brakiss was able to twist Zekk so effectively against me? By playing on his strongest emotions, his greatest fears…"

Her voice cracked slightly and she wiped angrily at hot tears suddenly pooling in the corners of her eyes.

"Brakiss went so far as to alter Zekk's memories, to use the Force to make him give up resistance when he tried to plant ideas in his head about hurting us, hurting _me_- because Zekk didn't _want_ to believe the things Brakiss was telling him, but it was just enough to start him doubting. And of course, Zekk's actions were his own, but… you know what dad? So were Kyp Durron's."

Han's mouth tightened into a thin line before he visibly exhaled and slumped at the reminder of his good friend who he had viewed almost as a younger brother or a son when he had helped free him from the spice mines of Kessel.

"Anyway," Jaina murmured, "I don't want to talk about this now. I haven't seen you all," she looked at her parents and Anakin, "in two months, and I've missed you."

Some of the tension in the room seemed to break at that, and for a long time, the reunited Solo family talked about trivial things and serious matters, about Leia's duties to which she would have to return soon, about Anakin's schooling on Coruscant and his soon-to-come arrival at the academy with his older siblings. As the afternoon wore on, Jaina or Jacen would open up a little more about their captivity as the conversation allowed, and each time it came up, her stomach would knot a little and she'd close her eyes and take a deep breath.

And each time it happened, a touch from Jacen, a warm brush across that special bond that they had always shared, would make her smile lightly once more, pull her out of painful memories, or let her face them without fear.


	13. Epilogue

**A/N**: Wanted to get the last chapter here out before I ran off this morning to go spend the week living in the woods training a summer camp staff… haha. So here it is. :-)

**Epilogue**

_Three Months Later_

She sat silent vigil by his bed around the chrono those first couple days, when his survival had been most uncertain, refusing to go spend the time in bacta that her uncle and brother insisted she needed after her duel- and near death- at Brakiss' hands. Zekk's near death had been much nearer than hers, she thought bitterly, so why should she run off to heal when they _still_ couldn't say with certainty that he would survive.

When he woke up on the third day after a continuous healing trance and several dips in a bacta tank, and had the gall to rasp out that _she_ looked terrible… then she relented.

And now, ten days later, fully healed with the only reminder of injuries being the slightly pink tint to her skin that accompanied prolonged bacta exposure, she stood out in the cool evening jungle air, listening to the sounds of hundreds of forest creatures and insects. From above, one could see large swaths of burnt canopy from where fighters had crashed- but her favorite place to stand and survey the jungle, one of the places she had taken Zekk when they were embroiled in memory and emotion… it was gone, blasted away by the detonator planted in the upper levels of the temple.

The reconstruction effort would begin soon, once the last of the injured were fully healed, and the students were given a month to go home and spend time with their families if they so wished. After all, not all healing was physical, as Jaina and Jacen- and Zekk- had learned the hard way three months prior.

Speaking of whom… a warm tingling alerted her to the approaching presence, and she felt him stop a meter or so behind her and over her shoulder.

"Nice night."

"Hm," she murmured, still not turning but lightly brushing his mind with her own warm touch, motioning him silently forward to come stand by her.

For a long time, they shared a comfortable silence. A sense of anxiety was beginning to drift into his mind though, and she nudged him, urging him to say whatever he had come out here to say.

"You're mad at me."

"No."

"You're sad then."

She finally turned her head slightly to look at him, lips quirking lightly. "Maybe a little."

"I'm sorry."

Turning fully now, her resigned but accepting eyes met his hesitant ones. "Don't be," she murmured. "I knew you wouldn't stick around here forever."

He bit his lip. "I'm not running away."

A rueful smile crossed her features. "Don't be ridiculous; if you were running away, you'd have been gone long before the Shadow Academy attacked. I know you, Zekk… you had to see it through, and you knew they'd be coming… that's why you stayed. But now that you've stood up to Brakiss, now that you've proven yourself against the dark side… proven that you've come out stronger for what you've been through… there isn't anything left for you here."

With a sigh, he sat on the grass, damp with the jungle humidity. "It sounds really harsh when you say it like that. And there's _plenty_ left for me here. I have great friends here- I have _you_ here. This just… isn't what I need right now, and Master Skywalker agrees."

"Has he chosen a Master for you yet?"

A deep chuckle rumbled from his throat, and the faintest stirrings of butterflies made themselves known all too well in her stomach at the sound. "You'll like this," he laughed. "He didn't even ask… Master Katarn volunteered."

"Master Katarn?" she repeated, a small smile touching her lips again. "There's a great story… master and apprentice, first met fighting each other on Kashyyyk…"

"Yeah, it's funny, but… he and I have an understanding, I guess."

They reflected on their thoughts silently for another few minutes, Jaina eventually settling down on the ground beside him and resting her head on his shoulder. "When do you leave?" she murmured.

"Two days; early."

A wave of resigned sadness emanated from her, and he hesitantly put an arm around her shoulders. After her initial waking, when he had held her while she cried, they had maintained a respectable distance, physically and emotionally, as much for each other as for her brother and uncle, and her friends who would just never understand everything they had been through. For the first time in three months though, he found he didn't particularly care what the others thought; he had fought alongside the Jedi against the Shadow Academy, had killed Brakiss- saving Jaina's life in the process, probably- and if that didn't redeem him in their eyes, nothing would. And now, Jaina was sad, and he wanted to be the one to comfort her.

"I'll miss you," she said softly.

Night was falling over the moon, a soft glow settling on the treetops, lighting up the ruined temple with an eerie orange cast, compounded by the hovering gas-giant of Yavin high above them. He twisted his head around and leaned over, kissing the top of her head softly as he tightened his hold around her. "I know," he whispered. "And I'll miss you too. But we'll see one another much more often than we did when I was back on Coruscant; I promise."

"I'll hold you to that," she teased, eyes glinting mischievously. "Now come on- let's go sneak into the kitchens and steal some cocoa."

X-X-X-X

The next night, Zekk packed his meager accumulation of possessions into a small travel bag before sitting heavily on the small bed, sighing heavily. His time on the Yavin moon had been… calming, peaceful, healing… well, until the attack two weeks prior, anyway. He had talked and worked with Master Skywalker at length, astounded at the man's understanding and compassion, humbled to even be allowed to participate in the training exercises with the other Jedi.

But there was still too much of a divide between him and the other students. He had trained quickly and intensely- and consequently, taking many shortcuts- with a dark Jedi, had learned how to be a ruthless killer before he even learned how to properly control his mind. Brakiss had good reason to train him that way, Zekk realized- he _wanted_ to see Zekk's every emotion, had wanted to be able to use them against him as he pushed him further and further down a slippery path.

And so he had forsaken the dark path, but it left him a little confused and lost inside, and he knew that he needed something else, a more specialized way of reconciling the gaps in his knowledge and education. He needed a private Master, and Kyle Katarn had volunteered to step up to the challenge. Zekk was most grateful to the man, but a little nervous of what was to come- but he accepted the unknown, took it as a challenge, and steeled himself for adventures ahead.

A soft tap sounded at his quarters, and he berated himself for being so inflective as to miss the approaching presence; a quick probe in the Force, and an answering touch from the wry mind of the person outside told him it was Jaina, and he smiled. Striding quickly towards the door, he pressed the release pad and it slid open.

He started in surprise at the sight of her. It was late, and she looked more like she was going to bed than roaming the cool corridors of the lower temple levels- the ones that remained stable after the blast. She wore a light tunic that barely reached her knees, her hair- usually wild from being constantly swung out of her eyes- was hanging in a long, straight sheet around her face, soft and freshly washed, he guessed. Her light brown eyes held a warm look, tinged with a slight bit of mischievousness, he thought and maybe something else… anticipation, or nervousness perhaps.

"Good evening," he murmured, still taking in her appearance. "It's late; I thought you'd gone to bed."

She shrugged. "I was going to, but…" she glanced around once. "Can I come in?"

"Oh," he stepped aside, feeling suddenly rude. "Of course."

She did so, and stood in the center of the room for a moment, taking in the barrenness of the place- not that it had looked so very lived-in before. That same feeling of sad resignation emanated from her, but it was more subdued than the prior evening. "Are you excited to start your apprenticeship?" she asked.

His brow rose, lips quirking. "Excited, nervous… sure. But," he frowned lightly down at her, "that's not why you're here."

She grinned. "Your feelings serve you well."

"You're blushing." What had started as a pink tinge of her cheeks erupted into a full-scale redness and she turned away, embarrassed. "Hey," he smiled softly, "we're a little past that abashed phase with each other, aren't we? Come on… what's up?"

Her face set in a determined line and she met his eyes steadily. "I came to be with you tonight."

"Sorry?"

"It's your last night here; I want to spend it together, like we used to back on Coruscant."

Now he went a little red too and glanced down at the floor for a moment, brow furrowed in consternation. "I don't know if that's… a good idea."

"Why not?"

He sighed, mildly impatient. "Because back on Coruscant, we were kids, and even when we were older, Jacen was always there too."

"So you're saying I can stay if Jacen comes too?" Her tone was lightly teasing, but he sensed an underlying confusion at his reticence.

"I'm _saying_," he turned away and faced the wall, "that we aren't innocent kids anymore; you're fifteen, I'll be seventeen soon, and we have a relationship that completely defies description and definition, but is decidedly not innocent."

"That sounds like regret talking."

He turned back again, frowning. "It's the truth, however you choose to take it."

The Force wasn't needed to know that his words stung her a little bit. She seethed silently for a minute before finally replying with her own barbed words. "I'm not propositioning you here, Zekk; I want to _sleep_ with you, not sleep _with_ you. I may have forgiven you long before it actually happened, but it'll take me a lot more than three months to get over being tortured and _raped_."

A shadow crossed over his face and he turned sharply away to stand by the small window, leaning his head against the stone wall. He immediately sensed that she regretted the comment, though it took her a couple of minutes to put voice to the emotion.

"I'm sorry," she finally murmured, hesitantly approaching him and touching a soft hand to his arm. "I didn't mean it like…"

"I understand just fine," he said shortly.

"_No_," she insisted. "It's just… you said our relationship isn't _innocent _anymore, and maybe it isn't, but… you're really worried about how it would look to other people if they knew that we spent a night alone in your quarters, not whether it would be 'proper' or some such; because you should know that it would be because it will be a long time before I can… think about you like that."

He sighed. "I just feel like I'd be betraying Master Skywalker's confidence after he… took me in, helped me, trusted me."

She laughed, that soft peal that always made his insides twist pleasantly. "I don't think my uncle would begrudge two old friends the chance to be together during their last hours before one leaves for an indeterminate amount of time." A look of uncertainty flashed across her face. "But if _you're_ really that uncomfortable, I'll go."

"No, Jaina…" She had almost turned completely around to leave before he grasped her hand and pulled her close to him. Slowly, he brought a hand to her cheek, skimming her soft skin lightly as her eyes drifted closed at the sensation. "You know how I feel. I only worry because I _do_ care for you so much." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead softly. "You can stay."

"Do you _want_ me to though?"

Hesitating a moment, he tilted her face up towards his and smiled, before leaning forward once more and kissing her lips softly, barely ghosting his mouth over hers. "Yes."

Perhaps it wasn't _entirely_ proper, he thought ruefully as she removed the tunic, revealing sleep shorts that showed off far more of her toned legs than he was used to, and a tan undershirt that stopped a few centimeters above the waist of the shorts, uncovering just enough of her slim midriff to intrigue him. And perhaps, due to the small size of the bed, it wasn't wholly innocent, the way he held her close and enjoyed the feel of her body pressed warmly against his as they spoke in low tones before drifting into a comfortable slumber, her first and him following minutes later.

But that was just how things were, and would remain between them for some time. He had put her through too much for them to have a clear understanding of what path their relationship would take; but whatever path that ultimately was, he would be there for her in whatever way she needed.

X-X-X-X

It looked as though smoke were rising from the earth as Jaina stared out over the field where Kyle Katarn's blastboat lay waiting; the rising sun was searing the dew on the grass as it crept over the field, creating a misty fog that gave the entire scene an ethereal feel to her. Beside her, hand clasped in hers, Zekk stood silently, sad but excited, resigned but nervous… he wanted to leave, to allow himself the time and space to grow, but he didn't want to leave _her_- even though she probably needed that same time and space.

The tingling of an approaching presence drew his attention back to the present; he made to pull his hand from her grasp but she held tight and he relented, glancing sidelong at her as Master Katarn himself stepped into view, a large travel case slung over his shoulder. His eyes flickered ever-so-briefly down to their joined hands, and a brow quirked, but he did not comment.

"The problem," he said wryly, dropping the heavy case to the ground, "is that this is the first time in years that I've stayed in one place long enough to actually unpack things from my ship." Leaning in conspiratorially to the two of them, he whispered, "I'll be perfectly honest; I kind of liked it."

Jaina grinned. "Good. You should come back occasionally then."

Katarn glanced meaningfully at their hands and smiled wryly. "Somehow, I get the sense that we'll be finding reasons to return to Yavin, Jaina, whether _I_ want to or not."

She flushed lightly and he grinned roguishly at her before beckoning Zekk to come bring his own things aboard the ship. They left Jaina standing there, blinking against the brightening light, sensing the approach of her brother and uncle who came to bid the newly formed team safe travels.

When Zekk and Katarn reemerged from the ship to say their own farewells, Jaina felt the first hint of tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. Jacen sensed her discomfort and touched her shoulder comfortingly before moving away to shake the Jedi Master's hand and wish him well.

Zekk shared a lengthy and private goodbye with Luke, who spoke to him in low tones a few meters away from the rest of the group. Jaina saw Zekk nod a few times and smile, and a sense of confidence and pride radiated from her uncle as the teen stepped away from him and gave Jacen a half-hug, half-handshake.

When he got to her though, her mouth was dry, her words stuck in her throat, her tongue wouldn't move from the top of her mouth as she fought back the tears.

"How do you like this," Zekk murmured. "For once, _I'm_ the one leaving." She laughed, but it was half-sob as well, and he sighed sadly. "We'll see each other soon, Jaina. You're my anchor, I need you to keep me grounded."

"That's what Master Katarn is for now," she choked out, but smiled wryly. "Be a good apprentice, Zekk; listen to your Master, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"You wouldn't listen to your Master if your life depended on it," he pointed out. A few meters to his side and slightly behind, Katarn must have heard him, because he grinned and turned away to continue his conversation with Luke. "But I promise that I will… be safe."

"I guess that'll have to do."

For a long moment, they stood staring at each other unblinkingly, despite the hot and bright sun shining down on them. Then, with an entirely anticlimactic sigh, Zekk muttered, "Well… goodbye then."

The tears started to build up more forcefully, but she still pushed them back, willed herself not to lose control. "Goodbye," she whispered, moving forward to wrap her arms around his waist. "I'll see you when I see you."

Chuckling softly, he tightened the hug for a moment before pulling away with effort and turning, knowing that he needed to force himself to go or he never would. He made it about halfway across the field to the blastboat, Katarn leading the way, before her voice rang out through the foggy morning air.

"Zekk- wait!"

He turned, and Katarn stopped and waited patiently. Jaina was hurrying across the field, a desperate look on her face, and he took a few strides forward to meet her. She threw herself into his arms and clung to him for a long moment, head resting against his chest.

Eventually, she pulled away and looked up, and it tore at him to see her red eyes, the first tears finally spilling over onto her cheeks. She smiled though, a peacefully serene look. "I couldn't let you leave without telling you… Zekk… I love you too."

It didn't matter that the 'too' referred to his panicked words from three months earlier when he thought she wasn't waking up from her self-induced mental prison; he knew exactly what she meant, and knew that she was entirely sincere, just as he had been, despite his fear for her at the time.

Smiling broadly, Zekk leaned close to her ear and murmured, "I know." She laughed through tears and hit his arm playfully. "I love you, Jaina, and I will be back; and maybe then, we can figure out where we're supposed to go with a little more certainty."

She nodded, and he almost turned to leave again before deciding to take the plunge. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and waist and pulled her close to him. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise before he leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss that defied everything they had been through, defied the pain and suffering, the confusion and uncertainty… and when he pulled away, her eyes were bright and her face relaxed, and he knew it was time to go.

He turned for the last time, burning the image of her standing there on his brain, knowing that it would be his incentive to return; because, despite the happiness in her expression, in her _mind_, there were still tears running down her face. And Jaina Solo didn't cry for anyone- except him.

And he was going to make sure that it never happened again.

**Fin**


End file.
